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AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  CEL- 
EBRATION OF  THE  TWO 
HUNDREDTH  ANNIVERSARY 
OF  THE  PURCHASE  FROM 
THE  INDIANS  OF  THE 
LAND  OF  THE  TOWN  OF 
NEWTOWN,  CONNECTICUT, 
HELD  AUGUST  FIFTH,  NINE- 
TEEN HUNDRED  AND  FIVE 


EDITED   BY 

JAMES  HARDIN  GEORGE 
ALLISON  PARISH  SMITH 
EZRA  LEV AN  JOHNSON 


NEW  HAVEN,  CONN. : 

THE  TUTTLE,  MOREHOUSE  &  TAYLOR  COMPANY 
1906 


Copyright,  1906 
JAMBS  HARDIN  GEORGE 
ALLISON  PARISH  SMITH 
EZRA  LEVAN  JOHNSON 


Stack 
Annex 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  $ 

PREFACE 7 

STORY  OF  THE  CELEBRATION 9 

The  Preparation  9 

The  General  Committee  12 

The  Executive  Committee  12 

The  Finance  Committee  13 

The  Entertainment  Committee   14 

The  Historical   Committee    14 

The  Invitation  Committee  15 

.     The  Music  Committee  16 

The  Parade  Committee  16 

The  Committee  on  Decorations    16 

The  Committee  on  Colonial  Ball  17 

The  Committee  on  Fireworks 18 

The  Celebration   18 

The  Governor's  Arrival  19 

The  Colonial  Ball   19 

The  Anniversary  Day 21 

The  Parade    21 

The  Exercises  at  the  Fair  Grounds   22 

Prayer  by  Rev.  P.  Fox  24 

Address  of  Welcome,  by  Rev.  O.  W.  Barker 26 

Address  on  The  Colony,  by  Rev.  Samuel  Hart,  D.D.  . .  33 
Address  on  Pioneer  Life  in  Newtown  to  the  Close  of 

the  Revolution,  by  Mr.  E.  L.  Johnson 40 

The  Intermission,  and  Luncheon  108 

The  Poem,    "The  Old  Home  Coming"    by  Rev.  O.  O. 
Wright    ..in 


PAGE 

Address,  by  His   Excellency   Henry  Roberts,  Governor 

of  Connecticut  116 

Address  by  Hon.  D.  N.  Morgan  123 

Address  by  W.   C.  Wile,  M.D 129 

Address  by  Hon.  Charles  H.  Briscoe  133 

Address  by  Mr.  Frederick  P.  Marble 135 

Address  by  Prof.  Geo.  E.  Beers  139 

Address  by  Rear  Admiral  Franklin  C.  Prindle,  U.  S.  N.  145 

^^ti^-.  Address  by  Mr.  Edward  C.  Beecher^^. 147 

Benediction  by  Rev.  Arthur  T.   Parsons   148 

The  Historical  Exhibit  149 

The  Band  Concert  and  Fireworks  150 

COMMEMORATION  ON  SUNDAY,  AUGUST  THE  SIXTH  152 

The  Services  in  the  Congregational  Church  152 

Sermon  by  Rev.  O.  W.  Barker  on  "New  England  Leaven". .  153 

The  Services  in  Trinity  Church  165 

Sermon  by  Rev.  J.  H.  George  on   "The  Transplanted  Vine"  166 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


VIEWS  : 

PACK 

Newtown  Street,  from  the  North  end  Frontispiece 

Newtown  Street,  looking  North  from  the  Liberty  Pole  85 

Newtown  Street,  looking  South  from  the  Liberty  Pole   87 

The  John  Beach  Memorial  Library 53 

The  Congregational  Church  152 

Trinity  Church   164 

St.  Rose's  Church   90 

St.  John's  Church,  Sandy  Hook  67 

The  Methodist  Church,  Sandy  Hook 80 

Newtown  High  School 72 


^Re 


PORTRAITS  : 

Hon.  Henry  Roberts,  Governor  of  Connecticut  ................  116 

.  Samuel  Hart,  D.D  ......................................  33 

Mr.  Ezra  Levan  Johnson  .....................................  40 

Rev.  James  Hardin  George  ...................................  21 

Rev.  Otis  W.  Barker  .........................................  26 

Rev.  Patrick  Fox  .............................................  24 

Rev.  Otis  Olney  Wright  .....................................  in 

Hon.  Charles  H.  Briscoe  .....................................  133 

Hon.  Daniel  N.  Morgan  .....................................  123 

Dr.  William  C.  Wile  .........................................  129 

Mr.  Frederick  P.  Marble  .....................................  135 

Prof.  George  E.  Beers  .......................................  139 

Rear  Admiral  Franklin  C.  Prindle  ............................  145 

Hon.  Michael  J.  Houlihan  ....................................  10 


— 6— 

PAGE 

Mr.  Robert  H.  Beers  17 

Mr.  Patrick  H.  McCarthy  19 

Mr.  Allison  P.  Smith  9 

Mr.  Levi  C.  Morris 13 

Mr.  Charles  F.  Beardsley  109 

Mr.  Daniel  G.  Beers  149 

Mr.  Charles  S.  Platt  14 

Mr.  Charles  G.  Peck  22 

Mr.  William  A.  Leonard   150 


PREFACE 


In  searching  the  records  of  the  past  one  is  often  struck 
with  the  fact  that  his  task  would  have  been  very  much 
simplified,  had  those  who  went  before  him  taken  more  pains 
to  give  in  some  detail  the  occurrences  which  were  of  general 
interest  in  the  community  at  the  time  and  of  special  value 
to  those  who  should  follow. 

That  those  who  may  follow  us  need  be  at  no  loss  to  learn 
the  particulars  of  an  occasion  of  special  interest  to  all 
connected  with  the  town,  this  book  has  been  compiled. 

Because  this  book  in  giving  an  account  of  an  historic 
occasion  embodies  addresses  which  concern  the  early  days 
of  the  town,  it  should  be  doubly  valuable. 

With  these  objects  in  view,  to  preserve  the  early  history 
of  the  town  compiled  with  so  much  labor,  and  that  succeed- 
ing generations  might  know  what  the  people  of  to-day 
thought  of  its  early  history,  and  how  they  celebrated  its 
beginnings,  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Bicentennial 
appointed  the  undersigned  to  gather  the  addresses  and  the 
facts  of  the  celebration  and  to  publish  them  in  book  form. 

The  work  has  had  the  general  supervision  of  all  the 
members  of  the  committee.  In  the  division  of  the  labor, 
Mr.  Johnson  has  had  charge  of  the  addresses.  Mr.  George 
has  written  the  story,  with  the  exception  of  the  account 
of  the  Colonial  Ball  and  the  Parade.  This  with  the 
illustrations  has  been  the  care  of  Mr.  Smith. 


That  this  task  should  have  been  committed  to  us  was 
probably  due  to  the  sentiment  contained  in  the  old  adage, 
"if  you  want  to  get  anything  done,  get  a  busy  man  to  do  it." 
In  the  midst  of  many  cares  this  work  has  been  done  with 
no  expectation  of  reward  save  that  of  having  served  the 
interests  of  the  town.  A  limited  edition  is  published  and 
the  price  of  the  book  has  been  placed  so  as  to  cover  the  cost 
of  the  typographical  work. 

The  book  lays  no  claim  to  special  literary  merit.  We 
shall  be  satisfied  if  it  answers  its  purpose  of  preserving 
facts  which  were  of  interest  to  those  now  living  and  which 
will  be  valued  by  those  who  in  the  future  may  study  the 
history  of  Newtown. 

JAMES  HARDIN  GEORGE, 
ALLISON  PARISH  SMITH, 
EZRA  LEVAN  JOHNSON. 


ALLISON   PARISH    SMITH 

Editor  of  the  Newtown  Bee, 

Member  of  the  Bicentennial  Executive  Committee. 


THE  PREPARATION 


Any  story  of  the  Celebration  of  the  Two  Hundredth 
Anniversary  of  the  Purchase  of  the  Land  of  the  Town  of 
Newtown  from  the  Indians  would  be  incomplete  without 
some  account  of  the  preparations  which  in  the  months  pre- 
vious were  made  and  which  laid  the  foundation  for  its 
success. 

It  was  in  the  Men's  Literary  and  Social  Club  of  Newtown 
that  the  first  movement  was  made.  The  character  of  this 
club  is  described  by  its  name.  It  is  composed  of  about 
twenty  gentlemen,  who  meet  once  a  month,  with  one  of  their 
number  as  host,  and  under  the  leadership  of  another  mem- 
ber, who  has  charge  of  the  literary  programme,  discuss 
some  subject  of  interest.  These  subjects  are  not  wholly 
of  the  books  or  events  of  the  past;  but  often  matters  of 
present  interest,  and  frequently  those  of  local  concern. 
From  the  Club  have  originated  a  number  of  movements 
of  interest  to  the  community  and  some  public  improvements. 

It  was  at  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Ezra  Levan  Johnson, 
one  of  its  members,  that  the  Club  took  the  initiative  in 
bringing  before  the  community  the  propriety  of  marking 
the  bicentennial  of  this  first  event  in  the  history  of  our  town. 
Comparatively  few  knew  of  this  purchase  or  realized  its 
great  importance,  as  it  preceded  by  some  years  the  incor- 
poration of  the  town  by  the  Legislature,  and  the  later  date 
was  generally  set  down  as  the  beginning  of  the  town's 
history.  Mr.  Johnson,  however,  has  always  taken  a  great 
interest  in  the  history  of  the  town,  its  legends  and  landmarks, 
the  graves  of  its  noted  inhabitants,  and  its  old  records. 
His  age  makes  him  familiar  with  many  traditions  of  the 


older  generation,  and  in  his  younger  days  he  had  seen  the 
original  deed  from  the  Indians,  which  now  unfortunately 
cannot  be  found.  The  deed  was  recorded,  however,  and 
properly  attested  in  the  first  volume  of  the  town's  records. 
This  book  contains  a  mass  of  other  matters  of  less  import- 
ance and  not  recorded  in  chronological  order,  and  being 
devoid  of  an  index,  it  required  some  time  to  search  it  out. 
In  a  letter  written  while  he  was  in  California  in  the  winter  of 
1903-4,  he  called  attention  to  the  approaching  anniversary, 
and  again  in  person  brought  it  to  the  attention  of  the  Club 
at  its  first  meeting  in  the  fall  of  the  year  1904. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  consider  the  practicability 
of  a  celebration,  and  it  was  finally  decided  that  a  call  for 
a  public  meeting  to  take  up  the  matter  should  be  issued. 
It  was  not  the  intention  of  the  Club  to  direct  or  control 
the  celebration ;  but  having  called  the  attention  of  the 
community  to  the  anniversary,  to  leave  it  to  such  meeting 
to  appoint  suitable  committees  to  have  it  in  charge,  the 
members  doing  all  in  their  power  as  individuals  to  further  it. 

A  call  was  accordingly  published  in  the  issue  of  the 
Newtown  Bee  of  December  8th  for  a  meeting  at  the 
Newtown  Academy,  now  occupied  by  the  High  School,  on 
Monday  evening,  December  I2th.  This  place  was  chosen 
as  being  centrally  located  between  the  villages  of  Newtown 
and  Sandy  Hook,  and  equally  convenient  to  all.  A  severe 
snow  storm  prevented  a  meeting  of  more  than  three  or  four, 
and  it  was  adjourned  to  January  i6th  at  the  same  place. 

At  this  meeting  Mr.  Johnson  made  an  address,  giving 
the  historical  facts,  and  it  was  resolved  to  hold  a  celebration, 
and  a  permanent  organization  was  effected  by  the  choice  of 
Mr.  E.  L.  Johnson  as  Chairman,  and  Hon.  M.  J.  Houlihan  as 
Secretary.  At  an  adjourned  meeting  held  January  23d 
at  the  same  place,  Mr.  Houlihan  was  chosen  Treasurer,  and 
a  committee  to  nominate  a  general  committee  to  have  charge 
of  the  celebration  was  appointed.  This  committee  consisted 


HON.    MICHAEL  J.    HOULIHAN 

Town  Clerk, 
Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  Bicentennial  Executive  Committee. 


— II — 

of  Messrs.  E.  L.  Johnson,  M.  J.  Houlihan,  R.  H.  Beers, 
P.  H.  McCarthy,  Rev.  O.  W.  Barker,  Rev.  J.  H.  George,  and 
George  F.  Taylor. 

At  this  meeting  the  subject  of  publishing  a  new  map  of 
the  town  was  brought  up,  and  Mr.  D.  G.  Beers,  Rev.  J.  H. 
George,  and  Prof.  Ross  Jewell  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  report  on  the  practicability  of  the  scheme.  As  it  was 
found  that  the  making  and  publishing  of  such  a  map  might 
involve  some  financial  risk,  the  whole  matter  was  ultimately 
turned  over  to  ten  gentlemen  interested  in  the  subject  and 
willing  to  be  responsible  for  it  as  a  committee,  with  the 
understanding  that  it  should  in  no  way  be  an  expense  to  the 
general  committee,  and  that,  if  there  were  any  profit  from 
it,  it  should  go  to  the  expenses  of  the  celebration.  This 
committee  consisted  of  Messrs.  D.  G.  Beers,  Ross  Jewell, 
J.  H.  George,  A.  P.  Smith,  R.  H.  Beers,  S.  P.  Glover,  M.  J. 
Houlihan,  O.  W.  Barker,  C.  B.  Taylor,  and  W.  A.  Leonard. 

The  committee  employed  Mr.  Daniel  G.  Beers  to  make  a 
map  similar  to  the  old  map  made  in  1854,  on  a  scale  of  2^2 
inches  to  a  mile,  and  maps  of  the  villages  on  a  larger  scale, 
showing  the  names  of  all  persons  to  whom  the  various 
houses  belonged.  The  committee  employed  Prof.  Ross 
Jewell  to  take  the  photographs  of  the  public  buildings,  and 
of  factories  and  private  residences  which  were  placed  about 
the  map,  and  also  to  canvass  for  its  sale.  The  Bicentennial 
map  was  a  great  success.  Financially  it  added  to  the 
treasury  of  the  Executive  Committee  $275.  As  an  historical 
monument  it  forms  an  enduring  record  of  the  layout  of  the 
roads,  the  position  of  public  and  private  buildings,  and  the 
owners  of  real  estate  at  the  bicentennial  of  the  town. 

At  this  meeting  Messrs.  E.  L.  Johnson,  M.  J.  Houlihan, 
and  John  J.  Northrop,  one  of  the  town's  representatives  in 
the  Legislature,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  invite 
His  Excellency,  Governor  Henry  Roberts,  to  attend  the 
celebration. 


12 

The  Nominating  Committee  met  and  named  a  committee 
of  fifty  persons  as  a  General  Committee  to  have  charge  of 
the  celebration,  and  reported  to  a  public  meeting  of  the 
citizens  held  at  the  ''Brick  Building,"  so  called,  where  the 
town  records  are  kept,  on  Monday  evening,  March  6th. 
The  nominations  were  endorsed  by  the  meeting.  The 
names  of  the  gentlemen  constituting  this  Committee  follow : 

E.  L.  Johnson,  M.  J.  Houlihan,  R.  H.  Beers,  P.  H.  Mc- 
Carthy, Rev.  O.  W.  Barker,  Rev.  J.  H.  George,  Geo.  F. 
Taylor,  Rev.  P.  Fox,  Rev.  O.  O.  Wright,  Frank  Wright, 
Smith  P.  Glover,  William  B.  Sniffen,  Daniel  G.  Beers, 
Charles  S.  Platt,  Eli  B.  Beers,  Charles  E.  Beers,  C.  B. 
Taylor,  Walter  S.  Bradley,  David  C.  Peck,  S.  A.  Blackman, 
Charles  G.  Morris,  C.  D.  Stillson,  Henry  G.  Curtis,  Theron 
E.  Platt,  A.  B.  Blakeman,  P.  C.  Crowe,  Edward  W.  Troy, 
John  J.  Northrop,  M.  F.  Houlihan,  Charles  H.  Northrop, 
William  J.  Beecher,  William  A.  Leonard,  Levi  C.  Morris, 
Thomas  J.  Bradley,  George  F.  Duncombe,  Robert  A.  Clark, 
Edgar  C.  Page,  Thomas  J.  Corbett,  John  B.  Wheeler, 
Edward  Taylor,  Ralph  N.  Betts,  Allison  P.  Smith,  Philo 
Nichols,  Amos  T.  Camp,  Minott  Augur,  Albert  W.  Peck, 
William  E.  Hawley,  William  N.  Northrop,  J.  B.  Fairchild, 
Norman  Northrop. 

This  Committee  chose  an  Executive  Committee  to  have 
entire  charge  of  the  celebration,  as  follows : 

EXECUTIVE   COMMITTEE. 

EZRA  LEVAN  JOHNSON,  Chairman. 

MICHAEL  J.   HOULIHAN,  Secretary  and   Treasurer. 

JAMES  H.  GEORGE,  PATRICK  H.  MCCARTHY, 

OTIS  W.  BARKER,  ROBERT  H.  BEERS, 

ALLISON  P.  SMITH. 

A  rather  full  account  has  been  given  of  these  preliminary 
meetings  showing  the  early  stages  of  the  movement,  not 


LEVI   C.    MORRIS 
Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee. 


less  to  indicate  the  entirely  free  and  open  manner  of  its 
organization  than  to  give  an  encouragement  to  those  who 
in  the  future  may  have  in  hand  such  an  undertaking.  It 
was  found  that,  though  no  great  general  interest  character- 
ized its  early  stages,  the  public  grew  up  to  a  thorough 
appreciation  of  its  importance  as  it  progressed,  and  to 
enthusiasm  when  the  work  culminated  in  the  Celebration. 


The  work  of  the  Executive  Committee  now  began,  and  for 
the  next  five  months  meetings  were  held  on  an  average  of 
once  a  week  to  perfect  the  plans  for  carrying  out  the  cele- 
bration. 

An  important  part  of  their  duty  lay  in  dividing  up  the 
work  and  appointing  capable  sub-committees  to  carry  it 
into  effect. 

The  financial  problem  was  one  of  the  most  important, 
and  for  this  they  selected  gentlemen  partly  with  reference 
to  their  ability  to  collect  funds  and  partly  with  reference  to 
locality,  that  all  parts  of  the  town  might  be  represented. 
Following  is 

THE   FINANCE   COMMITTEE. 
LEVI  C.  MORRIS,  Chairman, 

ARTHUR  J.  SMITH,  E.  C.  PLATT, 

GEORGE  F.  TAYLOR,  CHARLES  G.  MORRIS, 

JOHN  J.  NORTHROP,  HENRY  G.  CURTIS, 

SMITH  P.  GLOVER,  PHILO  PLATT, 

P.  F.  CROWE,  C.  D.  STILLSON, 

A.  B.  BLAKEMAN,  ARTHUR  D.  FAIRCHILD. 

By  a  canvass  of  the  town  and  from  unsolicited  sub- 
scriptions from  former  residents  about  $700  was  raised, 
giving  the  Executive  Committee  funds  with  which  to  carry 
on  the  work  in  a  suitable  manner. 


—14— 

Next  in  importance  was  the  problem  of  feeding  the  large 
numbers  who  would  be  expected  on  such  an  occasion.  The 
suggestion  that  the  affair  should  be  of  a  picnic  character, 
those  coming  to  bring  a  basket  lunch,  was  soon  dismissed 
as  not  in  accord  with  the  known  hospitality  of  the  people  of 
the  town.  How  to  feed  a  large  multitude  estimated  to  run 
up  into  the  thousands  was  a  problem  involving  many 
practical  difficulties ;  but  it  was  thought  capable  of  solution 
under  good  generalship.  Following  are  the  names  of  the 
gentlemen  who  constituted  what  was  called 

THE  ENTERTAINMENT   COMMITTEE. 
CHARLES  F.  BEARDSLEY,  Chairman, 

W.  P.  TOMLIN,  GEORGE  A.  NORTHROP. 

CHARLES  H.  GAY,  W.  M.  REYNOLDS, 

Under  Mr.  Beardsley's  energetic  leadership  the  town 
was  thoroughly  canvassed  and  preparations  made  to  feed 
4,000  people. 

An  historical  occasion  called  for  a  collection  and  exhibi- 
tion of  relics  of  the  old  days,  and  the  following  were  chosen 


THE  HISTORICAL  COMMITTEE. 
DANIEL  G.  BEERS,  Chairman, 

MRS.  GEORGE  F.  TAYLOR,         Miss  ANN  E.  BLACKMAN, 
THERON  E.  PLATT,  MRS.  S.  GRACE  GLOVER, 

ARTHUR  T.  NETTLETON. 


These  were  all  possessors  of  valuable  relics,  and  with 
knowledge  of  others  to  make  visible  to  this  generation  the 
customs  and  manner  of  life  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  town. 
As  the  most  suitable  persons  to  trace  out  former  residents 
and  others  interested  in  the  town's  history  the  following 
were  chosen : 


CHARLES    S.    PLATT 
Chairman  of  the  Music  Committee. 


T    £__ 

THE  COMMITTEE  ON  INVITATIONS. 
E.  L.  JOHNSON,  Chairman, 

WILLIAM  J.  BEECHER,  CHARLES  H.  NORTHROP, 

REV.  OTIS  O.  WRIGHT,  CHARLES  G.  MORRIS. 

It  was  not  the  purpose  of  the  committee  to  send  personal 
invitations  to  the  present  residents,  as  they  were  to  be  the 
hosts  on  this  occasion;  nor  to  the  residents  of  near-by 
towns,  as  a  general  invitation  would  reach  them  through  the 
press ;  but  only  to  invite  former  residents  living  at  a  distance 
and  such  men  of  distinction  living  in  the  state  as  would 
naturally  be  interested  in  the  celebration. 

As  time  went  by,  the  particulars  of  the  celebration  itself 
developed  in  the  minds  of  the  Executive  Committee.  The 
chief  feature,  of  course,  should  be  an  historical  address 
giving  an  account  of  the  event  commemorated  and  of  the 
early  days  of  the  settlement.  For  the  speaker  it  was  evident 
that  none  was  so  well  qualified  as  Mr.  Ezra  Levan  Johnson, 
and  he  was  accordingly  chosen  to  deliver  the  principal 
historical  address. 

That  the  early  history  of  the  town  might  have  a  proper 
introduction  and  foundation,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Hart, 
President  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  was 
requested  to  deliver  an  historical  address  on  the  Colony  of 
which  the  first  settlers  of  the  town  were  a  part. 

The  Governor  of  the  State,  who  had  accepted  the  invita- 
tion to  be  present,  was  also  requested  to  make  an  address; 
and  a  number  of  others,  former  residents  or  closely 
connected  with  the  town,  were  invited  to  make  short 
speeches. 

The  next  thing  which  grew  out  of  the  plan  for  a  public 
meeting  with  addresses  was  the  singing  which  should 
accompany  them.  The  committee  to  have  this  matter  in 
charge,  to  select  suitable  music,  and  gather  and  train  a 
chorus  was  headed  by  the  capable  organist  of  Trinity  church 


assisted  by  others  skilled  in  music  in  other  churches  in  the 
town. 

Following  are  the  names  of 

THE  MUSIC  COMMITTEE. 
PROFESSOR  CHARLES  S.  PLATT,  Chairman, 

ARTHUR  J.  SMITH,  REV.  O.  O.  WRIGHT, 

EZRA  J.  HALL. 

It  seemed  fitting  that  with  the  Governor  and  other  distin- 
guished guests  present,  who  would  in  any  case  be  escorted 
to  the  place  of  assembling,  there  should  be  a  parade  through 
the  two  larger  villages  of  the  town  preceding  the  exercises, 
and  the  following  gentlemen  were  chosen 

THE  PARADE  COMMITTEE. 
CHARLES  G.  PECK,  Chairman, 

PATRICK  GANNON,  JAMES  B.  NICHOLS, 

PROF.  Ross  JEWELL,  SAMUEL  W.  LASHER, 

CHARLES  E.  HAWLEY,  HENRY  M.  SMITH, 

CHARLES  B.  JOHNSON. 

That  it  was  worked  out  to  be  a  most  important  feature  of 
the  celebration  was  due  to  the  interest  of  the  Chairman  and 
the  diligent  work  of  the  other  members  of  his  committee. 
The  most  convenient  place  for  holding  the  exercises  was 
the  grounds  of  the  Newtown  Agricultural  Association,  with 
its  covered  grand  stand,  and  its  buildings,  which  could  be 
utilized  for  various  purposes.  The  large  space  about  the 
race  track  also  offered  abundant  room  for  the  vehicles  of 
those  who  drove  from  a  distance.  The  grounds  were 
generously  loaned  for  the  occasion,  and  under  the  direction 
of  Messrs.  A.  P.  Smith,  P.  H.  McCarthy,  and  Rev.  O.  O. 
Wright,  a  large  stand  for  the  speakers  and  the  chorus  was 
erected  on  the  race  track  in  front  of  the  grand  stand. 


ROBERT  H.  BEERS 

Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Decorations, 
Member  of  the  Bicentennial  Executive  Committee. 


—17— 

To  give  the  whole  a  festival  appearance  it  was  decided  to 
have  a  decorator  adorn  the  entrance  and  grand  stand  with 
bunting.  This  was  done  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  R.  H. 
Beers,  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee.  The 
illuminated  sign  over  the  entrance,  "Newtown's  Bicenten- 
nial," 1705-1905,  was  the  work  and  gift  of  Mr.  C.  W. 
Canfield.  The  presence  of  the  decorator  and  the  beautiful 
effect  of  his  work  begun  a  few  days  before  the  celebration 
created  a  desire  in  private  individuals  to  adorn  their  houses, 
and  the  contagion  spread  until  all  the  dwellings  in  the  village 
street,  the  places  of  business,  the  town  buildings,  and  the 
John  Beach  Memorial  Library,  as  well  as  all  the  buildings 
on  the  proposed  line  of  march  were  decorated,  all  in  excel- 
lent taste  and  some  most  elaborately.  To  give  a  final  touch 
to  the  general  decorations  the  Executive  Committee  had  the 
decorator  extend  ropes  from  far  up  on  the  liberty  pole, 
which  stands  at  the  crossing  of  the  roads  in  the  middle  of 
the  village,  to  the  buildings  at  the  four  corners  and  also  from 
corner  to  corner,  forming  a  square,  and  these  ropes  filled 
with  flags  and  streamers  of  various  colors. 

The  work  of  the  Historical  Committee  in  making  an 
exhibit  of  old  furniture,  documents,  and  other  relics  of  the 
past  suggested  the  bringing  out  of  old  costumes  in  a 
Colonial  ball  the  evening  before  the  celebration.  This  was 
taken  up  not  less  heartily  by  the  young  people  than  by  fheir 
elders  and  accordingly  the  following  persons  were  appointed 
to  make  suitable  preparations  for  this  function  as 

THE   COMMITTEE   ON   COLONIAL   BALL. 
PATRICK  H.  MCCARTHY,  Chairman, 

MRS.  S.  GRACE  GLOVER,  ELI  B.  BEERS, 

MRS.  CHARLES  S.  PLATT,  S.  AMBROSE  BLACKMAN, 

MRS.  F.  S.  ANDREWS,  HANFORD  C.  PLUMB. 


—1ST— 

Finally,  that  the  day  might  close  in  a  blaze  of  glory  and 
triumph  the  Executive  Committee  arranged  for  a  band 
concert,  and  also  appointed  the  following  gentlemen  as 

THE  COMMITTEE  ON  FIREWORKS. 
WILLIAM  A.  LEONARD,  Chairman, 

WILLIAM  HONAN,  FRANK  BLACKMAN, 

BIRDSEY  SNIFFEN,  GUSTAVUS  BETTS, 

OSCAR  CARLSON,  W.  WALTER  FINCH, 

HERBERT  FLANSBURG. 

These  were  the  principal  sub-committees,  which  enabled 
the  Executive  Committee  to  carry  out  the  plans  for  the 
celebration.  Of  the  numerous  committees  of  their  own 
number  appointed  from  time  to  time  to  attend  to  various 
matters  it  does  not  need  here  to  speak.  The  work  of  these 
chief  committees  was  constantly  and  regularly  reported  to 
the  Executive  Committee,  which  gave  them  all  the  help 
which  they  called  for  and  encouraged  them  to  go  forward 
to  make  a  success  of  each  department  which  they  repre- 
sented. 

It  was  five  months  full  of  hard  work,  but  most  interesting, 
and  brought  the  members  of  the  Committee  into  most  inti- 
mate and  cordial  relations. 


PATRICK    H.    MCCARTHY 

Chairman  of  Committee  on  Colonial  Ball, 

Member  of  the  Bicentennial  Executive  Committee. 


THE  CELEBRATION 


All  arrangements  had  been  perfected,  and  there  was 
nothing  to  be  desired  but  fine  weather  to  make  the  cele- 
bration a  success.  From  the  beginning  of  the  work  of  the 
Executive  Committee  the  question  had  continually  been 
raised  as  to  what  should  be  done  in  case  of  stormy  weather. 
The  more  hopeful  ones  had  claimed  that  there  could  not  be 
any  but  fair  weather  on  such  an  occasion,  and  the  matter 
had  been  staved  off  from  week  to  week ;  but  as  the  time  drew 
near  they  yielded  to  making  of  plans  for  such  an  emergency, 
and  Trinity  Church  was  offered  for  the  exercises,  in  such  a 
contingency,  the  plan  being  in  that  case  to  have  the  luncheon 
in  the  large  hall  in  the  basement  of  the  church.  But  Friday 
evening  came  with  perfect  summer  weather  and  promise  of 
a  beautiful  day  to  follow. 

His  Excellency  Governor  Roberts  came  from  New  Haven 
on  the  train  arriving  at  six  o'clock,  Friday  evening,  and  was 
met  by  Mr.  E.  L.  Johnson,  Chairman  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  and  Rev.  James  H.  George,  President  of  the  day. 
As  he  rode  up  the  hill  he  was  greeted  with  a  Governor's 
salute  of  seventeen  guns,  and  was  driven  to  the  Grand 
Central  Hotel,  where  he  was  met  by  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee. After  a  short  drive  through  the  Street  to  see  the 
decorations  he  was  taken  to  Trinity  Rectory,  where  he  was 
entertained  during  his  stay  in  town.  The  Rectory,  in 
addition  to  other  decorations,  had  the  Connecticut  State 
flag  flying  over  the  door,  to  indicate  the  Governor's  head- 
quarters. An  informal  dinner  in  his  honor  was  served  early 
in  the  evening,  at  which  Rev.  Dr.  Hart,  who  was  also  a 


20 — 

guest  at  the  Rectory,  Mr.  E.  L.  Johnson,  and  Rev.  J. 
Francis  George,  a  friend  of  the  Governor  in  college  days, 
were  present. 

THE  COLONIAL  BALL. 

The  Bicentennial  celebration  was  ushered  in  on  Friday 
evening,  August  4,  by  a  Colonial  ball  at  the  Town  Hall, 
the  most  elaborate  function  of  its  kind  ever  held  in  the 
history  of  the  town.  The  interior  of  the  town  hall  had  been 
transformed  into  a  vision  of  loveliness,  the  prevailing  colors 
being  light  blue,  yellow  and  white.  The  occasion  was 
especially  notable  by  the  presence  of  His  Excellency,  Gover- 
nor Roberts,  who  entered  the  hall  about  8  P.  M.,  accompanied 
by  Rev.  J.  H.  George,  president  of  the  day,  and  friends. 
The  Governor  was  given  an  ovation  as  he  passed  up  to  take 
his  seat  in  the  south  alcove  on  the  stage,  which  had  been 
reserved  for  the  executive  committee,  their  wives  and  lady 
friends.  The  hall  was  crowded,  the  estimated  attendance 
being  not  far  from  seven  hundred.  The  grand  march,  led 
by  Governor  Henry  Roberts  and  Mrs.  Sarah  Grace  Glover, 
was  a  beautiful  sight,  about  one  hundred  people  being  in 
costume.  So  attractive  and  handsome  were  all  the  costumes 
it  would  be  invidious  to  mention  names,  but  the  ball  from 
every  standpoint  was  a  success.  The  Philharmonic  orches- 
tra of  Bridgeport  furnished  music.  During  the  early  part 
of  the  ball  Mrs.  F.  S.  Andrews,  who  was  in  costume,  sang 
"Queen  Bess,"  with  a  number  of  voices  assisting  in  the 
chorus.  The  committee  who  deserve  the  credit  for  the  suc- 
cess of  the  ball  were  P.  H.  McCarthy,  chairman;  Mrs. 
Sarah  Grace  Glover,  Mrs.  C.  S.  Platt,  Mrs.  F.  S.  Andrews, 
Eli  B.  Beers,  S.  A.  Blackman  and  Hanford  C.  Plumb. 


REV.   JAMES    HARDIN   GEORGE 

Rector  of  Trinity  Church, 

President  of  the  Day. 


THE  ANNIVERSARY  DAY 


August  fifth  was  a  perfect  summer  day,  and  as  the  sun 
showed  his  rim  over  the  Zoar  hills  he  was  greeted  with  a 
salute  of  twenty-one  guns  and  the  ringing  of  the  church 
bells.  Every  one  was  early  astir,  for  there  was  much  to  be 
done  to  prepare  for  the  first  event  of  the  day — the  parade. 

STORY   OF  THE   PARADE. 

The  Bicentennial  parade,  Saturday  morning,  August  5, 
was  a  notable  success.  The  parade  was  artistic,  attractive, 
and  when  the  five  hundred  school  children  are  considered, 
it  was  beautiful.  The  parade  astonished  and  delighted  the 
visitors,  who  had  no  idea  of  witnessing  so  spectacular  and 
beautiful  an  exhibition.  It  certainly  reflected  marked  credit 
on  Charles  G.  Peck,  the  efficient  chairman,  and  his  hard 
working  committee,  every  one  of  whom  were  heartily  con- 
gratulated on  all  sides. 

All  along  the  line  of  parade  His  Excellency,  Governor 
Roberts,  received  a  hearty  greeting  in  hand-clapping  and  the 
waving  of  flags.  This  was  especially  noticeable  at  points 
in  Sandy  Hook,  where  numbers  of  young  women  were 
massed  together,  and  in  front  of  the  Newtown  Inn  and 
Grand  Central  hotel,  where  his  greeting  was  most  enthu- 
siastic. Mr  Peck  received  much  praise  for  the  fact  that 
notwithstanding  the  parade  left  the  Fair  grounds  thirteen 
minutes  late,  the  grand  stand  was  reached  only  five  minutes 
behind  the  scheduled  time.  The  Woodbury  band,  leading 
the  parade,  in  their  new  suits,  presented  a  handsome  appear- 


ance,  and  rendered  excellent  music.    They  numbered  twenty- 
one  men. 

The  forming  of  the  parade  took  place  on  the  Fair  grounds 
and  by  9.13  was  ready  for  the  start,  going  up  as  far  as  the 
watering  tank,  south  through  Queen  street  to  the  C.  B.  Sher- 
man place,  west  through  Glover  street  to  the  four  corners, 
up  Main  street  to  the  North  Center  schoolhouse,  counter- 
marching through  the  street  to  the  depot  road,  down  to 
Sandy  Hook,  through  Dayton  street,  across  Dayton  street 
bridge,  south  to  iron  bridge,  up  Sandy  Hook  Main  street 
to  Depot  street  and  back  to  the  Fair  grounds,  arriving  at 
the  grand  stand  five  minutes  later  than  the  scheduled  time. 
The  parade  was  led  by  the  grand  marshal,  C.  G.  Peck,  who 
presented  a  fine  appearance  on  his  trained  horse,  which  kept 
step  to  the  music,  attracting  attention  all  along  the  line. 
The  marshal  and  his  aides  wore  military  cloaks  loaned 
by  P.  L.  Ronalds,  giving  them  a  striking  appearance. 
The  first  division  was  made  up  of  C.  G.  Peck  and  aides, 
on  black  horses,  the  Woodbury  band,  followed  by  hacks, 
the  first  carriage  being  occupied  by  Governor  Roberts,  E. 
L.  Johnson,  Rev.  J.  H.  George  and  Hon.  M.  J.  Houlihan. 
Others  occupying  seats  in  the  carriages  were :  Rev.  O.  W. 
Barker,  Robert  H.  Beers,  Allison  P.  Smith  and  Patrick 
H.  McCarthy,  members  of  the  Executive  Committee,  and  the 
following  guests  of  the  day :  Hon.  A.  W.  Mitchell  of  Wood- 
bury,  State  Comptroller,  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Hart  of  Middle- 
town,  Hon.  Daniel  N.  Morgan  of  Bridgeport,  Dr.  W.  C. 
Wile,  First  Selectman  Samuel  A.  Blackman  of  Newtown, 
Selectman  E.  C.  Page  of  Newtown,  Judge  of  Probate 
William  J.  Beecher  of  Newtown,  Town  Treasurer  Charles 
H.  Northrop  of  Newtown,  Rev.  J.  F.  George  of  Rockville, 
Rev.  Patrick  Fox  and  Rev.  P.  J.  O'Reilly  of  Xewtown, 
Rev.  T.  B.  Smith  of  Danbury,  Representatives  John  J. 
Northrop  and  E.  W.  Troy,  Tax  Collector  John  F.  Houlihan, 
Rev.  Frederick  Foote  Johnson,  Rev.  Clarence  Beers, 


CHARLES   G.    PECK 
Chairman  of  the  Parade  Committee. 


—23— 

of  Madison,  S.  D.,  Frederick  Marble  of  Lowell,  Mass., 
Admiral  Prindle  of  Washington,  D.  C,  Rev.  E.  L.  Whit- 
come  of  Brookfield,  Rev.  O.  O.  Wright  of  Sandy  Hook, 
Elliott  H.  Morse  of  New  Haven,  ex-Senator  William  N. 
Northrop  of  Newtown,  Homer  Keeler  of  Waterbury  and 
Rev.  Arthur  Parsons  of  Thomaston. 

The  second  division  was  led  by  Marshal  Charles  B.  John- 
son and  aides,  who  were  mounted  on  white  horses.  In  this 
division,  in  decorated  wagons,  rode  the  members  of  the 
Newtown  High  school,  class  of  1905.  The  pupils  from 
the  twenty-three  school  districts  in  Newtown,  riding  in 
handsomely  decorated  wagons,  followed.  The  parochial 
schools  connected  with  St.  Rose's  Church  were  represented 
by  several  wagons  loaded  with  happy  children.  Fully  five 
hundred  school  children  were  in  the  procession,  and  they 
presented  a  beautiful  sight  as  they  passed  along,  waving 
their  flags  and  singing. 

The  third  division  was  in  charge  of  Marshal  James  B. 
Nichols  and  aides,  mounted  on  chestnut-colored  horses. 
Included  in  this  division  were  the  decorated  wagons  and 
floats,  gotten  up  by  local  citizens  and  business  firms,  as 
follows :  The  Fabric  Fire  Hose  Company,  two  wagons ; 
Patrick  Gannon,  float  representing  his  bee  industry ;  the 
Newtown  Fire  Company,  Patrick  Gannon  foreman,  with  the 
hook  and  ladder  truck,  hose  cart  and  fire  engine ;  G.  F. 
Baker  &  Co.,  Hawleyville,  float  representing  their  furniture 
business ;  Levi  C.  Morris,  decorated  wagon  representing 
his  grocery  business ;  Bee  Publishing  Company,  decorated 
wagon  with  printer  at  work  on  press ;  H.  C.  Plumb,  deco- 
rated wragon,  filled  with  happy  children  from  the  Newtown 
Inn;  Betts  &  Betts,  two  decorated  wagons;  John  T. 
Sheehan,  decorated  float  with  blacksmith  at  work  at  anvil ; 
H.  P.  Boyson,  float  with  logs,  representing  the  wood 
industry.  There  was  an  attractive  Indian  float,  boys  and 
girls  dressed  as  Indians,  followed  by  a  number  of  mounted 
3 


—24— 

young  men  dressed  to  represent  Indians,  and  four  native 
Indian  girls  from  Hampton.  Herbert  Flansburg,  the  actor, 
dressed  in  complete  Indian  costume,  rode  in  this  division. 
P.  L.  Ronalds  loaned  for  the  parade  his  stylish  four-in-hand 
tally-ho,  which  was  occupied  by  ladies  and  children. 

The  fourth  division  was  in  charge  of  Marshal  Louis  T. 
Briscoe  and  aides,  mounted  on  bay  horses.  In  this  division 
were  a  number  of  citizens  on  horseback.  Mrs.  William 
C.  Johnson  and  Miss  Fannie  Daniels,  dressed  in  "costume 
of  ye  olden  time,"  rode  in  a  carriage  about  two  hundred 
years  old.  Miss  Jennie  Briscoe  also  rode  in  a  wagon  which 
was  built  in  1700.  O.  F.  Terrill  of  Hawleyville  had  a 
decorated  wagon  with  a  fat  steer  as  a  passenger. 

When  the  column  reached  the  Fair  Grounds  the  carriages 
were  driven  to  the  speakers'  stand,  where  seats  were  pro- 
vided for  the  Governor  and  other  distinguished  guests.  The 
grand  stand  was  already  rilled  and  the  space  about  was 
crowded  with  spectators ;  so  it  was  but  a  few  minutes  before 
the  President  of  the  day,  Rev.  James  H.  George,  called 
the  gathering  to  order  and  announced  the  opening  number, 
"Home  Again,"  which  was  sung  by  the  Chorus.  There 
were  fifty  voices  in  the  Chorus,  which  had  seats  on  the 
platform  adjoining  the  speakers'  stand.  Their  music  was 
a  most  enjoyable  and  inspiring  feature  of  the  day's  pro- 
gramme. Prof.  C.  S.  Platt  was  organist,  and  the  director 
was  Rev.  O.  O.  Wright. 

The  Rev.  Patrick  Fox,  Pastor  of  St.  Rose's  Church,  was 
introduced  to  invoke  the  divine  blessing,  and  offered  the 
following  prayer : 

* 

Come,  O  Holy  Ghost,  fill  the  hearts  of  Thy  faithful,  and  kindle  in 
them  the  fire  of  Thy  love. 

Send  forth  Thy  Spirit,  and  they  shall  be  created, 
And  Thou  shalt  renew  the  face  of  the  earth. 
O  Lord,  hear  my  prayer, 


REV.   PATRICK   FOX 
Pastor  of  St.  Rose's  Church. 


—25— 

And  let  my  supplication  come  to  Thee. 

O  God,  Who,  by  the  light  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  hast  instructed  the 
hearts  of  the  faithful ;  grant  that,  by  the  same  Spirit,  we  may  have 
a  right  understanding  of  all  things,  and  evermore  rejoice  in  this 
holy  consolation:  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Who  liveth  and 
reigneth  one  God,  world  without  end.  Amen. 

O  God,  to  whom  every  heart  is  open,  every  will  declares  itself, 
and  from  Whom  no  secret  lies  concealed,  purify,  by  the  inspiration 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  thoughts  of  our  hearts,  that  we  may  perfectly 
love  Thee,  and  worthily  praise  Thee:  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.  Amen. 

Rev.  Otis  W.  Barker  was  announced  as  one  well  known 
and  always  gladly  heard  to  give  the  address  of  welcome. 
He  was  heard  by  the  large  audience  with  evident  pleasure, 
and  his  witty  remarks  were  greeted  with  frequent  applause. 


ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME 

BY  REV.  OTIS  W.  BARKER. 


Mr.  President: — I  am  only  a  comma  and  not  a  full  stop. 
I  am  here  simply  to  catch  the  ripples  of  enthusiasm  as  they 
roll  and  hurry  along.  I  am  here  but  to  make  a  tiny  squeak 
in  our  great  oratorio  of  sound.  I  am  filling  up  a  gap  while 
the  orators  of  the  day  are  catching  their  breath.  Has  not 
our  great  chorus  of  welcome  already  grandly  begun?  As 
the  first  grey  light  of  morning  streaked  these  verdant  hills, 
did  you  not  hear  the  pounding  of  our  wake-up  gun?  We 
meant  that  you  should  hear  it.  In  ever  increasing  waves 
detonating  thunderous  welcome  we  shall  say  all  through  this 
day  we  are  glad  to  see  you  until  the  zip-boom-ah  of  the 
shower-spreading  rocket  to-night  loses  itself  as  it  dashes  its 
spray  of  light  among  the  stars. 

Well,  I  am  sure  that  our  noisy  demonstration  has  by  this 
time  fully  waked  us  all  up;  and  I  rather  have  an  inkling 
that  Wacumseh  or  some  other  red  man  with  unpronounce- 
able name  has  rolled  over  in  his  blanket,  disturbed  by  the 
noise,  and  taken  a  fresh  grip  upon  his  tomahawk.  You 
have  seen  Welcome  spelt  out  for  you  in  waving  lines  of 
light  as  our  gay-hearted  school  children,  500  strong,  have  to 
enthusiasm's  voice  added  the  greeting  of  numberless  flags, 
whose  glories  mingle  themselves  with  the  brightness  of  this 
glad  morning  and  the  blue  sky.  As  those  who  have  for  six 
long  months  been  pushing  the  machinery  of  Bicentennial 
celebration  when  the  wheels  stuck  fast  in  mud  and  slough, 
we  feel  that  we  are  now  getting  what  we  have  put  down  on 


REV.   OTIS   W.   BARKER 

7or  twelve  years  Pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church, 
Member  of  the  Bicentennial  Executive  Committee. 


—27— 

paper  with  painstaking  care  off  into  the  realm  where  they 
live  and  move.  Have  you  not  seen  the  phalanxes  of  eat- 
ables that  have  been  moving  these  few  last  hours  into  yonder 
buildings;  and  may  I  rehearse  the  stale  old  joke  that 
although  our  Fair  Grounds  may  not  seem  very  fertile,  we'll 
have  no  desert  here  to-day,  because  of  the  sand-which-is 
there.  Dame  Hen  has  left  her  cackle  and  bold  Chanti- 
cleer is  missed  from  the  barn  yard  convocation,  and  all  have 
come  to  join  their  lusty  shouts  in  our  welcome  here  to-day. 

Our  program  tells  us  we  are  two  hundred  years  old ;  but 
as  we  saw  last  night  our  venerable  ones  loosen  their 
rheumatic  joints  and  shake  out  their  Quaker  foot,  we  all 
seemed  again  to  have  taken  a  draught  from  the  elixir  of 
life.  Even  our  dignified  Governor  proves  that  he  can,  if 
need  be,  assume  the  roll  of  a  spruce,  dapper  young  man. 
It  is  pleasant  to  recall  the  past,  to  take  out  the  jewels  from 
memory's  casket  and  let  them  glitter  before  our  faces  one 
by  one. 

On  a  bench  in  a  park  of  a  neighboring  city  sometime  ago 
sat  a  young  man.  His  clothes  wrere  dusty,  but  not  shabby. 
His  face  wore  a  look  of  dejection.  He  evidently  had  cut 
loose  the  cable  from  life's  helpfulness  and  cheer.  A 
stranger,  passing  through  the  park,  took  in  the  situation 
at  a  glance.  He  sat  down  beside  the  young  man,  and  look- 
ing steadily  into  his  face,  said :  "I  think,  my  good  fellow, 
you  just  want  a  good  grip  of  the  hand."  The  young  man 
had  left  his  rural  home  to  find  work  in  the  city.  The  old 
story  had  been  gone  over.  He  had  run  up  against  hard 
luck ;  nobody  wanted  to  employ  him  and  worse  still,  nobody 
cared  for  him.  He  had  come  to  the  end  of  his  endeavor 
and  the  future  was  a  blank.  This  firm  hand-clasp  heart- 
ened him  and  soon  he  was  employed,  on  his  feet  and  fight- 
ing the  battle  of  life  as  a  man.  Good  friends,  in  our 
welcome  this  is  the  sort  of  hand-clasp  we  would  give  you 
to-day,  one  that  brings  cheer  and  encouragement.  Are 


—28— 

you  down  in  the  mouth?  On  this  great  day,  brace  up. 
Epictetus,  the  Greek  slave,  says  there  are  two  handles 
for  everything;  by  one  handle  a  thing  can  be  easily  borne, 
grasped  by  the  other  handle  it  becomes  a  heavy  weight. 
Grip  the  right  handle  to-day.  Nothing  is  above  our 
ambition.  We  invited  President  Roosevelt  to  come,  and 
came  within  an  ace  of  corralling  him.  If  that  had  been 
the  only  thing  lacking,  we  would  even  have  produced  the 
bear.  We  almost  thought  of  asking  the  Japanese  and 
Russian  plenipotentiaries  to  make  us  a  stopover  on  their 
way  to  Washington. 

This  is  a  big  celebration,  and  we  are  all  celebrated  people 
too.  New  York  is  noted  for  its  commerce,  Boston  for  its 
literature,  Philadelphia  since  the  days  of  Franklin  for  its 
science,  Washington  for  its  politics,  Baltimore  (our  bache- 
lors are  planning  a  trip  there  next  week)  for  its  pretty 
girls,  and  Newtown  for  its  good  roads,  small  debt,  fine 
high  school  and  good  citizens.  In  our  stock  market  we  deal 
almost  wholly  in  futures ;  we're  going  to  be  great  some  day. 
We  have  many  lights  in  the  way  of  Pecks  set  upon  a  hill ; 
but  our  splendid  parade  shows  you  that  not  under  a  bushel 
are  our  Pecks  hid.  They  say  that  if  you  swing  a  cat  by  the 
tail,  you  sweep  a  wide  circumference.  Swinging  our 
metaphorical  cat,  then,  behold !  what  a  wide  circuit  we  take 
in.  Yale  appears  first  on  our  rim,  and  that  is  why  we  are 
so  wise.  Bridgeport  next  heaves  into  view,  and  that  is  why 
we  are  such  "big  guns."  Shelton  next  throws  out  her 
light,  and  that  is  why  we  wear  so  many  buttons.  Danbury 
comes  down  the  home  stretch,  and  that  is  why  all  of  us  here 
to-day  upon  the  platform  have  a  new  hat. 

Good  stranger,  that  comes  to-day  within  our  quiet  vales, 
we  extend  to  you  the  courtesies  of  a  "wide  open"  town. 
The  door  of  our  houses  over  yonder  on  the  hills  are  wide 
open ;  we  forgot  to  close  them.  Our  pocketbooks  will  be 
open  after  we  are  through  paying  our  bills.  May  your 


—29— 

grips,  too,  be  wide  open  as  you  leave  us  for  some  kindly 
memento  of  the  occasion  which  your  friends  will  give  you. 
May  your  ears  be  wide  open  after  I  sit  down  for  the  words  of 
wisdom  which  from  our  orator's  lips  like  gentle  dew  will 
fall.  The  five  sweetest  words  in  the  English  language  are 
said  to  be  these :  heart,  home,  hope,  happiness  and  heaven. 
As  through  the  dull  monotony  of  life's  grinding  cares  you 
listen  with  attentive  ear  for  the  lullaby  of  sweet  strains  that 
call  into  sunnier  realms,  may  you  hear  to-day  in  the  swelling 
of  the  tones  of  our  five-stringed  harp  this  one  note  ring  loud 
and  clear :  We  welcome  you  to-day  with  all  our  heart. 

When  the  train  is  sweeping  through  the  mountains 
around  the  great  Horseshoe  Curve,  it  does  not  for  one 
moment  slacken  its  speed.  The  massive  driving  wheels  fly 
just  as  quickly,  the  mighty  snorts  from  the  cavernous 
smoke-stack  come  just  as  fiercely,  the  swaying  of  the  speed- 
ing car  from  side  to  side  is  just  as  hazardous  as  before  the 
curve  was  approached.  To-day  on  this  great  anniversary 
we  are  swinging  around  the  curve.  The  center  of  our  circle 
is  over  yonder  in  the  woods  where  the  Indians  bartered 
with  wampum  and  beads  for  the  land  which  once  they 
owned.  We  do  not  relax  our  vigor  for  one  moment  as  we 
face  the  future  all  untried.  We  may  tighten  our  girth,  but 
we  do  not  take  in  our  spread  of  sail.  Under  this  great 
stretch  of  sky  to-day  we  are  Newtowners  all.  With  com- 
mon heart  and  with  linked  hand  we  join  to  glorify  the  past 
and  to  make  the  future  strong.  Do  not  despise  us  who 
stay  here  near  virgin  sod.  Those  are  necessary  who  hold 
the  fort ;  the  mother  once  was  praised  who  only  wound  the 
yarn.  If  there  was  not  something  small,  there  would  be 
nothing  great.  The  river  flows  from  the  rill.  They  travel 
as  well  who  merely  talk  at  the  family  table  of  what  has 
transpired  on  the  way  from  school  as  those  who  belt  the 
world.  They  succeed  in  moil  of  the  city  who  have  the 
granite  of  the  hills  in  their  blood.  The  historic  address 


—30— 

will  show  you  how  great  we  have  been,  but  the  cemetery 
over  yonder  does  not  contain  all  our  greatness. 

May  you  all  enjoy  the  spirit  of  the  day.  A  good  minister 
(a  Methodist,  I  believe,  he  was)  once  received  a  jar  of 
brandy  peaches  from  a  doting  parishioner.  They  were 
excellent,  of  the  good  kind  our  foremothers  made,  and  the 
worthy  man  in  acknowledging  them  wrote :  "I  appreciate 
very  much  your  peaches,  especially  the  spirit  in  which  they 
were  sent."  The  bass  drum  rolls  out  the  deep  notes  of  the 
spirit  which  is  here.  The  music  of  the  fife  gives  it  another 
key.  The  merry  prattle  of  the  children  shows  our  past 
comes  not  as  a  skeleton  at  the  feast ;  it  has  a  right  good 
laugh.  The  spirit  of  the  day  is  catching.  It  breathes  in  the 
air,  it  swells  in  our  music,  it  tingles  in  our  finger-tips,  it 
loses  itself  among  the  clouds.  It  is  lowed  by  the  sleek  kine 
that  browse  in  the  grateful  shade ;  it  is  grunted  by  the  swine 
that  express  their  satisfaction  from  the  noxious  sty.  Spirit 
of  the  generations  now  sleeping,  be  with  us  to-day.  This 
is  the  generosity  we  extend  you  that  once  said  grace  over 
the  Thanksgiving  table  and  made  the  ancestral  home  the 
rendezvous  of  happy-hearted  fun.  As  the  mists  have  rolled 
away  from  these  hills  this  morning  may  our  tear-drops 
now  be  banished  and  the  gloom  all  chased  away.  A  father 
was  traveling  with  his  little  girl — a  cripple.  Seeing  her 
asleep  on  the  car  seat,  a  kind  lady  slipped  some  roses  in  her 
hand  and  leaned  the  frail  form  against  her  arm.  On  return- 
ing from  the  smoker,  the  father  found  his  little  girl  just 
awaked.  Looking  at  the  roses  she  said:  "I  have  been  in 
heaven,  don't  you  see?"  Catching  the  ozone  that  is  wafted 
from  these  sunlit  hills,  may  you  not  feel  you  have  been  at 
least  near  heaven  to-day  ? 

Two  hundred  years!  Yes,  a  dream.  The  Indian  has 
faded  out  of  view.  Long  since  he  has  climbed  the  hills  and 
read  his  doom  in  the  setting  sun.  Another  race  is  here, 
the  proud  Anglo-Saxon,  "inhabiting  the  greatest  continuous 


empire  ever  devised  by  man,"  followed  in  the  race  to  lead 
the  world  by  the  flower-loving  Japanese  and  the  phlegmatic 
dweller  by  the  storied  Rhine.  Two  hundred  years!  It  is 
only  a  tick  of  the  clock  of  eternity,  only  a  rustling  of  the 
robes  of  the  Infinite  as  He  passes  in  the  night.  A  dream? 
Yes;  but  when  one  awaketh,  he  awaketh  to  light  and  duty. 
The  swarthy  Indian  passed  into  the  shadow  ;  the  spirit  of  the 
hills  that  he  worshipped  changes  for  the  God  who  weigheth 
the  hills  in  scales  and  maketh  the  mountains  to  smoke  as  a 
furnace.  Let  us  as  children  of  the  light  walk  in  the  light. 
Let  us  as  those,  though  but  born  for  a  day,  live  as  those 
who  shall  outlive  the  stars. 

Here's  a  bumper,  my  friends,  to  the  days  that  are  gone ; 
here's  a  pledge  of  manhood  strong  for  that  which  is  to 
come ;  and  here's  our  hand  both  kindly  and  true  as  we 
welcome  you  from  city,  from  country,  from  dale,  from  vale, 
and  open  to  you  the  best  that  we  have. 

"There  are  no  days  like  the  good  old  days — 

The  days  when  we  were  youthful ! 
When  humankind  were  pure  of  mind 

And  speech  and  deeds  were  truthful ; 
Before  a  love  for  sordid  gold 

Became  man's  ruling  passion, 
And  before  each  dame  and  maid  became 

Slaves  to  the  tyrant — fashion ! 

There  are  no  girls  like  the  good  old  girls — 

Against  the  world  I'd  stake  'em ! 
As  buxom  and  smart  and  clean  of  heart — 

As  the  Lord  knew  how  to  make  'em ! 
They  were  rich  in  spirit  and  common  sense, 

A  piety  all  supportin'; 
They  could  bake  and  brew,  and  had  taught  school,  too, 

And  they  made  the  likeliest  courtin' ! 

There  are  no  boys  like  the  good  old  boys — 

When  we  were  boys  together ! 
When  the  grass  was  sweet  to  the  brown  bare  feet 

That  dimpled  the  laughing  heather: 


—32— 

When  the  peewee  sung  to  the  summer  dawn 

Of  the  bee  in  the  billowy  clover, 
Or  down  by  the  mill  the  whip-poor-will 

Echoed  his  night-song  over. 

There  is  no  love  like  the  good  old  love — 

The  love  that  mother  gave  us ! 
We  are  old,  old  men,  yet  we  pine  again 

For  that  precious  grace — God  save  us ! 
So  we  dream  and  dream  of  the  good  old  times, 

And  our  hearts  grow  tenderer,  fonder, 
As  those  dear  old  dreams  bring  soothing  gleams 

Of  heaven  away  off  yonder." 


After  the  singing  by  the  Chorus  of  "Around  the  hearth," 
the  President  of  the  day  said : 

"We  meet  to-day  to  celebrate  the  beginnings  of  our 
town  history,  the  transfer  of  the  ownership  of  this  beauti- 
ful country  from  the  savage  Indian  to  the  civilized  Anglo- 
Saxon.  But  this  civilization  did  not  originate  here.  It 
came  across  the  water  and  by  successive  emigrations 
reached  this  place  which  is  our  home.  It  is  fitting  that, 
as  an  introduction  to  the  history  of  the  town  itself,  we 
should  call  to  mind  the  larger  movement  of  which  the 
settlement  of  our  town  was  an  outcome,  and  learn  some- 
thing of  the  colony  of  which  it  was  a  part. 

"It  is  especially  fitting  that  this  should  be  done  for  us  by 
one  who  in  position  and  attainments  is  best  qualified  for  that 
task,  a  ripe  scholar  in  many  lines,  but  particularly  in  the 
history  of  our  own  State,  and  the  head  of  the  organization 
which  has  done  invaluable  service  in  preserving  the  records 
of  our  State  and  Colony.  I  have  the  great  privilege  of 
introducing  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Hart,  President  of  the 
Connecticut  Historical  Society." 

Dr.  Hart's  paper,  including  as  it  did  much  that  was  new 
even  to  those  who  felt  familiar  with  the  history  of  the 
Colony,  was  listened  to  with  the  closest  interest. 


REV.    SAMUEL   HART,   D.D. 
President  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society. 


ADDRESS   ON   "THE  COLONY 

By  REV.  SAMUEL  HART,  D.D.,  MIDDLETOWN. 

President  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society. 


Your  Newtown  was  not  the  first  place  in  the  Colony  of 
Connecticut  to  bear  its  name.  Seventy  years  before  these 
fair  hillsides  and  valleys  were  secured  as  a  home  for  your 
ancestors,  a  company  of  earnest  men  and  women  had  moved 
to  the  westward  from  Massachusetts  Bay  to  seek  a  new 
abode  on  the  farther  side  of  the  Connecticut.  It  was  for 
them  a  journey  through  forests  and  over  ridges  and  across 
streams ;  they  went  along  in  the  wilderness  wherein  was 
no  way ;  and  their  passage  of  the  Great  River  was  for 
them  in  a  very  real  sense  what  the  passage  of  the  great 
river  of  the  eastern  world  was  to  the  Father  of  all  the  Faith- 
ful. They  were  warned  by  those  whom  they  left  behind 
that  in  the  bounds  of  the  west,  where  they  were  minded  to 
dwell,  they  would  meet  with  strange  experiences,  and  that 
they  must  expect  to  contend  there  in  the  great  battle  with 
Antichrist,  whose  abode  was  in  the  ends  of  the  earth.  But 
they  were  sturdy  men  and  brave  women,  who  believed  that 
they  had  a  call  to  found  a  new  commonwealth,  and  who 
were  convinced  that  at  a  safe  distance  from  their  brethren 
they  could  put  into  operation  certain  principles  of  associa- 
tion and  government  which  did  not  quite  commend  them- 
selves to  those  whom  they  left  behind.  Turning  their  steps 
a  little  to  the  south  as  they  went  westward,  they  crossed  the 
river  below  the  line  which  bounded  the  Massachusetts  pat- 
ent in  a  fair  valley,  of  the  beauty  and  fertility  of  which 


—34— 

they  had  heard  before.  They  had  come  from  the  New 
Town  just  across  from  the  older  town  of  Boston,  a  place 
which  was  soon  to  become  the  seat  of  a  college  and  to  adopt 
a  name  that  should  recall  the  seat  of  an  ancient  university 
in  England ;  but  when  they  left  it,  the  Massachusetts  Cam- 
bridge was  still  New  Town.  They  went  through  the  wilds 
and  came  to  the  sight  of  their  new  home ;  and  there,  as 
those  who  settled  above  them  continued  for  a  time  the  name 
Dorchester  and  those  who  took  up  their  abode  a  little  below 
brought  the  name  of  Watertown,  they  founded  a  new  New- 
town.  In  some  sense  indeed  they  might  have  said  that 
theirs  was  the  original  Newtown ;  for  the  organized  church 
of  their  former  home  came  with  them,  and  was  not  the 
church  the  most  important  part  of  their  organization? 
But  at  any  rate,  such  was  the  name  which  they  brought; 
and  for  a  short  time  there  was  a  Newtown  in  Connecticut 
established  in  the  sight  of  the  Dutch  fort  of  slightly  earlier 
foundations  and  guided  in  matters  ecclesiastical  and  civil  by 
Mr.  Hooker  and  Mr.  Stone.  But  soon  the  thoughts  of 
the  settlers  went  back  past  their  recent  abode  on  the  Bay  to 
their  old  home  in  England ;  and  after  two  years  they  agreed 
that  Newtown  should  be  called  Hartford — they  doubtless 
called  it  Har'ford — from  the  name  of  the  old  dwelling-place 
of  one  of  their  ministers.  The  former  name  lapsed ;  but 
it  was  after  a  while  suggested  for  adoption  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  colony,  and  was  actually  renewed  by  those  who 
fixed  on  this  place  as  a  home  for  themselves  and  their 
children ;  and  at  the  end  of  two  centuries  we  find  the  name 
perpetuated  here.  We  may  feel  obliged  to  apologize  for 
it,  as  one  apologized  for  the  name  of  the  venerable  founda- 
tion of  New  College  at  Oxford,  by  saying,  "It  was  new 
once" ;  but  we  gladly  keep  the  word  which  has  almost  lost 
the  significance  of  its  derivation,  and  has  come  to  mean, 
for  many  who  live  here  and  many  more  who  are  scattered  in 
divers  parts  of  the  country  and  (it  may  well  be)  in  remote 


—35— 

parts  of  the  earth,  all  that  is  denoted  by  the  name  of  an 
ancestral  home  or  of  their  own  home  in  childhood  or  of 
their  only  home  in  youth  and  active  life  and  happy  age. 
One  who  speaks  for  the  State  Historical  Society,  which  has 
its  local  abode  in  the  capital  city  of  the  State,  may  venture  to 
say  that  he  brings  to-day  a  salutation  from  the  old  Newtown 
of  1635  to  the  new  Newtown  of  the  comparatively  recent 
date  of  1705,  seventy  years  its  junior. 

Seventy  years  pass  beyond  the  limit  of  the  active  life  of 
man  in  these  degenerate  days,  save  in  a  few  extraordinary 
cases ;  but  seventy  years  is  not  a  long  time  in  the  life  of  a 
family  or  a  church  or  a  nation.  Still,  it  is  a  period  which 
often  marks  the  occurrence  of  important  events,  the  passage 
of  important  actions,  the  influence  of  strong  men.  Espe- 
cially the  first  three  score  years  and  ten  in  the  history 
of  a  commonwealth  cannot  but  determine  in  great  part  its 
future  life.  The  Connecticut  into  which  the  settlement 
which  was  made  here  two  hundred  years  ago  was  soon 
admitted  as  a  town,  was  already  the  Connecticut  of  an 
important  history.  Let  me  remind  you — it  must  be  briefly 
and  almost  by  suggestion — of  some  of  the  events  by  which 
that  history  was  marked  and  its  issues  determined. 

The  Connecticut  Colony  had,  as  we  may  say,  gained  con- 
sciousness of  its  power  and  of  its  rights  in  the  Pequot  war ; 
it  had  made  declaration  of  its  principles  of  government  and 
claimed  and  accepted  the  responsibilities  of  a  common- 
wealth in  the  adoption  of  the  Fundamental  Orders,  the 
first  written  constitution  in  the  world  establishing  a  pure 
and  strong  democracy ;  and  it  had  strengthened  itself  by 
acquiring  such  governmental  rights  as  were  possessed  by  the 
commander  of  the  fort  at  Saybrook.  Meanwhile  there 
had  been  growing,  under  the  influence  of  an  aristocratic 
settlement  at  the  mouth  of  the  Quinnipiack,  a  federation — 
for  it  was  rather  this  than  a  commonwealth — the  principles 
of  which  were  not  in  entire  accord  with  those  of  the 


-3*- 

River  colony.  We  may  remind  ourselves,  by  the  way,  that 
in  the  first  sermon  preached  at  New  Haven  the  settlers  were 
bidden  to  think  of  themselves  as  led  into  the  wilderness 
to  be  tempted  of  the  devil. 

Soon  the  days  of  the  Commonwealth  in  England  came 
and  passed ;  the  King  fell  and  the  King  came  to  his  own 
again ;  and  the  new  King  gave  to  the  younger  Winthrop 
for  his  Colony  of  Connecticut  that  wonderful  charter  which 
continued  its  former  government,  confirmed  to  it  all  that  it 
had  ever  had  or  claimed,  and  in  fact  assured  its  perpetu- 
ation for  all  time.  An  immediate  result  of  the  charter  was 
the  inclusion,  in  1662,  of  New  Haven  in  Connecticut,  not 
very  willingly  accepted  by  those  who  were  thus  deprived  of 
a  sort  of  sovereignty  without  their  consent,  but  seen  to  be 
necessary  for  common  safety  and  for  mutual  advantage ; 
and  the  united  colony  was  able  to  take  her  place  among 
friendly  neighbors  and  to  assert  her  rights  against  her 
opponents.  It  is  not  amiss,  perhaps,  to  note  the  growth 
of  the  body  politic  by  enumerating  the  towns  which  came 
under  the  general  provisions  of  the  charter.  In  Connecticut 
proper,  besides  the  original  towns  of  Wetliersfield,  Hart- 
ford, and  Windsor,  there  were  eight :  Saybrook  of  equal 
antiquity  with  the  three,  Stratford,  Farmington,  Fairfield, 
Norwalk,  Middletown,  New  London,  and  Norwich.  With 
New  Haven  there  were  four  others ;  Milford,  Guilford, 
Stamford,  and  Branford.  I  do  not  mention  the  towns  of 
Long  Island  which  were  under  the  one  or  the  other  of  these 
jurisdictions,  as  they  did  not  long  continue  their  relations  to 
them.  These  fifteen  towns  formed  on  the  whole  a  homo- 
geneous and  prosperous  community.  Under  the  spiritual 
care  of  well  educated  and  godly  ministers ;  with  upright 
magistrates,  who  administered  wisely  the  laws  made  by  the 
representatives  of  the  people ;  training  their  children  in  as 
well  furnished  schools  as  the  times  would  afford,  and  found- 
ing a  Collegiate  school  for  their  higher  education ;  practising 


—37— 

and  strengthening  what  came  to  be  known  as  the  New  Eng- 
land conscience ;  the  people  of  this  commonwealth  took, 
quietly  but  surely,  their  place  as  men  and  as  Christians. 

Before  the  time  came  when  these  lands  were  secured  for 
a  settlement,  Connecticut  had  been  called  upon  to  do  a  good 
deal  and  to  suffer  a  good  deal  for  the  common  interests  of 
New  England  and  for  the  maintenance  and  defense  of  the 
rights  and  claims  of  the  mother  country;  and  in  doing  this 
she  had  come  into  a  depressed  financial  condition  and  felt  the 
need  of  greater  activity ;  but  she  was  ever  the  same  brave 
and  patient  commonwealth,  doing  her  best  and  waiting  her 
time. 

And  in  all  these  years  the  colony  was  growing  by  the 
occupation  of  new  territory  and  the  organization  of  new 
towns,  each  a  political  unit,  as  the  former  towns  had  been, 
and  each  taking  its  place  in  the  common  life.  In  this 
neighborhood  Derby  and  Woodbury  and  Waterbury  had 
been  founded  before  1700,  and  Danbury,  further  west,  be- 
came a  town  before  the  first  settlers  here  were  ready  for 
incorporation.  Such  lands  as  we  see  lying  about  us  could 
not  be  left  unoccupied  ;  it  is  to  hear  the  story  of  their  occupa- 
tion and  of  that  which  followed  upon  it  that  we  are 
assembled  to-day.  I  have  already  kept  you  too  long  from 
listening  to  your  historian  ;  but  I  have  tried  to  sketch  a  back- 
ground on  which  the  local  record  may  be  projected,  and  to 
suggest  what  sort  of  a  body  politic  it  was,  with  its  18,000 
inhabitants,  its  churches  and  schools,  its  rising  college  hav- 
ing four  students  already  graduated,  its  simple  and  strong 
form  of  government,  its  honorable  history,  its  high  ideals 
and  aspirations,  and  its  preparation  for  a  noble  future,  in 
which  the  settlers  of  this  community  were  preparing,  two 
hundred  years  ago,  to  form  a  new  unit  of  life  and  adminis- 
tration. Let  me  but  add  that  a  commemoration  of  this  kind 
has  a  value  and  an  influence  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
town  in  which  it  is  held.  It  affects  the  life  of  the  State,  and 


-38- 

gives  an  inspiration  to  many  who  have  but  a  remote  connec- 
tion— perhaps  no  personal  connection  at  all — with  your 
history.  The  deserved  praise  of  "famous  men  and  our 
fathers  that  begat  us"  awakens  in  others  than  their  descend- 
ants an  appreciation  of  the  past  and  a  determination  to  make 
the  future  worthy  of  it.  And  while  we  look  for  a  result  of 
what  is  said  and  done  here  to-day  in  a  renewed  interest  in 
local  history,  a  better  appreciation  of  the  value  of  your 
foundations,  a  clearer  view  of  the  opportunities  of  your 
town  and  of  the  duties  of  its  citizens,  a  sense  of  the  import- 
ance and  appreciation  of  the  past  and  a  determination  to 
make  plans  both  for  the  near  and  for  the  far-off  future  of 
your  home,  we  may  not  forget  that  all  this  influences  a  wider 
community ;  and  that  as  the  present  in  its  wide  unfoldings  is 
what  the  past,  sometimes  in  narrow  lines  of  work  and 
influence,  has  made  it,  so  the  future  is  affected  far  beyond 
the  possibility  of  our  thought  by  our  labor,  our  character, 
our  unselfish  devotion  to  the  common  good. 


The  Chorus  sang  "Praise  ye  the  Father,"  and  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  day  said : 

"When  your  Executive  Committee  began  its  plans  for 
this  celebration,  the  chief  feature  of  it  was,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  an  historical  address  commemorative  of  the  event 
we  would  mark  and  of  the  early  history  of  the  town's 
settlement.  It  was  equally  a  matter  of  course  that  they 
should  choose  to  make  that  address  the  one  whom  you 
will  hear  to-day.  Born  of  a  family  whose  ancestor  was 
one  of  the  original  settlers  of  the  town  and  which  has 
lived  in  the  town  continuously  for  two  hundred  years  down 
to  to-day,  our  historian  was  himself  a  native  of  Newtown, 
and  here  has  spent  his  life.  He  thus  embodies  the  history 


—39— 

of  our  town  in  himself.  He  has  also  the  historic  instinct. 
With  a  memory  rich  in  local  traditions  and  a  deep  interest 
in  its  past,  he  has  the  industry  to  delve  into  the  ancient 
records  and  trace  to  their  sources  events  which  lie  in 
obscurity.  Nor  less  is  he  inspired  with  a  genuine  loyalty 
to  the  town's  best  traditions  and  a  willingness  to  help  lift 
it  to  high  ideals.  For  many  years  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Education,  with  a  deep  love  for  children  and  a  genuine 
interest  in  the  rising  generation,  he  has  undertaken  the 
preparation  of  this  history  largely  for  their  benefit. 

"It  would  be  impossible  in  an  address  of  suitable  length  to 
be  delivered  on  such  an  occasion  that  the  historian  should 
trace  in  any  but  the  faintest  outline  the  complete  history  of 
our  town  to  the  present  day.  That  he  should  give  us  with 
some  fulness  the  history  of  the  town  in  its  beginnings  and 
in  that  part  which  reaches  back  beyond  the  memory  of  the 
present  generation,  was  a  wise  choice.  His  subject,  there- 
fore, to-day  is  'Pioneer  Life  in  Newtown  to  the  Close  of  the 
Revolution.'  We  trust  that  on  a  future  occasion  he  may 
bring  the  history  of  the  town  down  to  our  own  day.  It 
gives  me  very  great  pleasure  to  introduce  one  so  well  known 
and  loved,  Mr.  Ezra  Levan  Johnson." 


HISTORICAL  ADDRESS 

OF 

EZRA  LEVAN  JOHNSON 


When  it  became  known  that  as  a  town  we  were  nearing 
the  Bicentennial  of  two  events  of  historic  interest,  the  pur- 
chase from  the  Indians  in  1705  of  the  land  that  comprises 
our  township,  and  also  the  time  when  we  were  incorporated 
a  town  by  act  of  the  General  Court  in  October,  1711,  the 
question  naturally  arose,  which  of  these  events  should  be 
observed,  or  whether  each  should  come  in  its  turn.  The 
gathering  of  to-day  shows  how  the  question  was  answered. 

We  cannot  call  upon  those  who  were  active  participants 
in  the  early  days  to  tell  us  the  story  of  the  almost  forgotten 
past.  The  moss  has  gathered,  and  is  still  gathering  upon 
the  headstones  in  our  village  cemetery,  telling  that  long 
ago  the  first  settlers  began  to  fall  asleep.  Children  and 
children's  children  have  followed  in  quick  succession,  until 
none  are  left  to  tell  the  story  of  the  first  hundred  years. 
Fortunate  for  us,  that  the  town  and  church  records  have 
been  so  well  preserved,  that  from  those  sources  so  much 
can  be  gathered  of  value.  We  have  no  historic  landmark 
as  the  nearby  towns  of  Fairfield,  Ridgefield,  Redding  and 
Danbury  have.  We  have  no  battlefields  where  the  blood- 
stained sod  was  once  plowed  by  shot  and  shell  as  contending 
armies  met  in  deadly  strife.  We  have  no  Putnam  Park  with 
its  crumbling  chimneys  and  its  broken  hearth-stones  that 
mark  the  places  where  the  American  soldiers,  under  the 
gallant  Putnam,  bivouacked  during  the  rigors  of  a  long 


EZRA   LEVAN   JOHNSON 

Chairman  of  the  Bicentennial  Executive  Committee, 
Historian  of  the  Day. 


—41— 

New  England  winter  while  keeping  vigil  against  an  invad- 
ing foe.  The  pleasant  homes  that  line  our  village  street 
were  not  erected,  as  those  of  Fairfield  and  Danbury  were, 
on  the  ruins  that  followed  the  conflagration  caused  by  the 
invaders'  torch.  A  quiet  inland  town  ours  has  ever  been, 
with  agriculture  as  its  basis ;  consequently  our  history  must 
lie  along  the  lines  of  peace.  On  the  plains  of  our  vast 
domain  that  lie  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  where  cities 
spring  up  in  a  day  and  villages  are  of  mushroom  growth, 
the  man  or  the  woman  who  drove  the  stakes  for  the  first 
homestead  plot  is  still  living  on  it,  and  could  tell  us  in  a  half 
hour's  time  or  less  the  history  of  the  town  from  its  birth  to 
the  present  time. 

Not  so  is  it  with  our  staid  New  England  towns,  and 
Newtown  is  no  exception  to  that  rule.  No  one  within  the 
hearing  of  my  voice  will  presume  to  say  or  think,  that  in 
an  hour's  time  anyone,  however  gifted  in  language  or  fluent 
in  speech,  can  give  the  history  of  a  town  that  has  had  an 
existence  of  two  hundred  years.  Two  hundred  years,  as  we 
finite  creatures  count  time,  is  a  long  stretch.  In  that  time 
kingdoms  may  rise  or  fall,  empires  crumble  away,  new 
republics  be  born,  the  whole  face  of  the  globe  be  materially 
and  permanently  changed  and  the  population  constantly  give 
place  to  the  ever-coming  tide  of  human  life.  But,  whoever 
hears  of  the  death  of  old  New  England  towns?  They  may 
become  depleted, — and  we  regret  to  be  obliged  to  say  they 
do, — but  they  never  die.  They  are  as  tenacious  of  life  as 
are  the  giant  trees  of  the  Yosemite  valley,  that  count  their 
age  by  the  thousands  of  years,  and  grow  more  majestic  and 
grand  as  the  centuries  roll  by. 

Of  the  Pootatuck  tribe  of  Indians  who  occupied  this 
region  when  the  English  first  came  among  them,  we  know 
little  as  to  their  numbers  or  condition.  That  they  were  a 
peaceable  tribe  is  affirmed  by  all  historians.  They -never 
gave  trouble  to  the  whites,  nor  did  they  distinguish  them- 


—42— 

selves  by  wars  upon  neighboring  tribes.  Their  lives  seem 
to  have  been  as  peaceful  as  the  everflowing  waters  of  the 
Housatonic  on  whose  banks  they  had  their  homes,  and 
which  locality  will  ever  be  known  by  its  Indian  name, 
Pohtatuck.  We  know  not  how  many  the  tribe  numbered  at 
the  time  they  sold  their  land,  but  President  Stiles  of  Yale 
College  says  in  his  Itinerary,  that  in  1710  they  numbered 
only  fifty  warriors,  and  in  his  opinion  were  at  that  time 
subject  to  Waramaug,  a  considerable  sachem  who  lived  on 
the  Housatonic  within  the  township  of  New  Milford. 

The  Colonial  Records  abound  with  evidences  of  the 
persistent  efforts  made  by  the  General  Court  to  educate  and 
christianize  the  Indians  in  the  Colony.  In  1736  it  was 
voted  "that  at  the  next  public  thanksgiving  there  should  be 
a  contribution  taken  in  every  ecclesiastical  society  in  the 
colony  to  raise  money  to  be  used  for  the  civilizing  and  chris- 
tianizing of  the  Indians."  Bounds  were  set  for  those  who 
were  called  friendly  Indians ;  the  Connecticut  river  was  the 
eastern  boundary,  and  the  Housatonic  river  the  western 
boundary,  and  between  those  rivers  the  friendly  Indians 
must  stay,  and  no  hostile  Indian  could  cross  those  boundaries 
except  at  the  peril  of  life ;  the  General  Court  keeping  a 
jealous  eye  on  all  who  were  looked  upon  with  suspicion  as 
likely  to  incite  the  Indians  to  any  malicious  or  murderous 
intent. 

From  the  report  sent  from  the  Colony  of  Connecticut  to 
His  Majesty's  government  by  order  of  his  Honor  the 
Governor  and  the  General  Court  in  1730,  the  Indian 
population  of  the  Colony  was  reported  as  1600,  inclined  to 
hunting,  drinking  and  excessive  idleness.  Indians  in  the 
colony  were  taken  into  the  military  service  when  they  offered 
themselves,  and  furnished  with  arms  and  ammunition  and 
whatever  else  was  needful  to  fit  them  for  war,  and  for  their 
encouragement  they  were  to  be  allowed  from  the  public 
treasury  the  same  as  the  English,  the  sum  of  five  pounds  for 


—43— 

every  man's  scalp  of  the  enemy  killed  in  the  colony,  to  be 
paid  to  the  person  who  did  that  service  over  and  above  his 
or  their  wages  and  the  plunder  taken  by  them.  In  1761  it 
was  reported  to  President  Stiles  that  the  number  was 
reduced  to  one  man  and  two  or  three  broken  families. 
Cothren,  in  his  Ancient  IVoodbury,  says  Mauquash,  the  last 
sachem  of  the  Pootatucks,  died  about  1758  and  was  buried 
in  the  "old  chimney  lot,"  a  short  distance  east  of  the  old 
Elizur  Mitchell  house  and  a  short  distance  from  the  elevated 
plain  on  which  stood  the  principal  and  last  village  of  the 
Pootatucks,  and  that  the  last  tribal  remnant  removed  in 
"1759  to  Kent,  and  joined  the  Scaticooks."  Records  show 
that  in  1742  the  General  Court  voted  that  the  sum  of  twenty- 
five  pounds  should  be  delivered  out  of  the  Colony  treasury 
unto  the  Rev.  Anthony  Stoddard  and  Rev.  Elisha  Kent, 
who  should  receive  and  improve  the  same  for  the  instruction 
and  christianizing  the  Indians  at  the  place  called  Pootatuck. 
Rev.  Elisha  Kent  was  the  minister  in  charge  in  Newtown 
from  1733  to  1740. 

The  ownership  of  land  comes  either  by  discovery,  by  con- 
quest, by  gift  or  by  purchase.  Fortunately  for  the  credit  of 
our  ancestors,  as  well  as  for  our  present  comfort,  this  town- 
ship of  ours  came  into  their  possession  by  purchase  from  those 
who  were  found  in  peaceable  possession  of  it  when  Charles 
the  Second,  King  of  England,  was  on  the  throne.  Many  of 
his  loving  subjects  had  crossed  the  ocean  to  make  for  them- 
selves homes  in  the  new  world,  when  John  Winthrop,  John 
Mason  and  others  petitioned  his  gracious  Majesty  the  King, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  they  were  so  remote  from  the  other 
English  plantations  in  New  England  that  "he  would  create 
and  make  them  a  body  politique  and  corporate  in  fact  and 
name,  by  the  name  of  Governour  and  Company  of  the 
English  Colony  of  Connecticut  in  New  England  in 
America.''  The  petition  was  granted,  impowering  them  in 
the  name  of  the  King  and  their  successors  after  them  "to  be 


—44— 

able  and  capable  in  the  law  to  plead  and  be  impleaded,  to 
answer  and  be  answered  unto,  to  defend  and  be  defended 
in  all  actions,  matters  and  things  of  what  kind  and  nature 
whatsoever,  and  to  have,  take  and  possess  and  acquire  lands 
and  to  bargain,  sell  and  dispose  of,  as  other  our  liege  people 
of  this  our  realm  of  England,  or  any  other  body  pollitique 
within  the  same  may  lawfully  do."  That  we  may  under- 
stand the  manner  by  which  our  township  passed  from  the 
ownership  of  the  Indians  to  the  English,  we  must  have 
recourse  to  the  Connecticut  Colonial  Records. 

At  the  session  of  the  General  Court  holden  in  Hartford  in 
October,  1667,  an  act  was  passed  appointing  a  committee 
and  empowering  them  with  liberty  to  purchase  Pohtatuck 
and  the  lands  adjoining  to  be  reserved  for  a  village  plan- 
tation. In  1670  the  court  further  decreed 

"that  whereas  several  inhabitants  of  Stratford  have  had  liberty  to 
purchase  Pootatuck  for  a  village  or  town,  the  aforesaid  committee 
with  Mr  Sherman  of  Stratford  are  hereby  impowered  to  order  the 
planting  of  the  same,  if  it  be  judged  fit  to  make  a  plantation;  pro- 
vided if  they  do  not  settle  a  plantation  there  within  four  years,  it 
shall  return  to  the  Court's  dispose  again." 

In  1671  the  General  Court  gave 

"liberty  to  certain  men  to  purchase  of  the  Indians  such  land  as  they 
shall  judge  convenient  within  the  bounds  of  the  Connecticut  colony 
always  provided  the  said  land  shall  remain  to  the  dispose  of  the 
General  Court,  and  when  the  land  is  disposed  of  by  the  court  the 
committee  shall  have  rational  satisfaction  for  their  disbursement." 

In  1673  the  court  again  appointed  a  committee 

"to  view  the  lands  of  the  Pootatucks  and  those  adjoining  whether 
they  may  be  fit  for  a  plantation  and  to  make  return  thereof  how 
they  find  it,  at  the  next  session  of  the  General  Court  in  October." 

Again,  in  1678  the  General  Court  appointed  another 
committee,  the  Honored  Deputy  Governor,  Major  Robert 
Treat,  with  three  other  prominent  men 


—45— 

"to  view  and  buy  convenient  land  for  a  plantation  in  those  adjacent 
places  about  Pootatuck,  and  when  said  land  is  purchased  it  shall 
remain  to  be  disposed  as  the  Court  shall  see  cause  and  reason  to 
order  for  the  planting  of  it." 

We  have  followed  the  action  of  the  General  Court  in 
regard  to  the  purchase  of  the  land  from  the  Indians  to 
make  clear  that  from  start  to  finish  there  is  no  evidence  of 
any  undue  haste  or  of  intrigue  in  getting  possession  of  their 
lands,  and  although  the  price  paid  for  the  land  when  it  was 
sold  looks  contemptibly  small  and  mean,  it  was  a  square  deal 
and  no  trouble  came  from  the  Indians  afterward  in  regard 
to  the  same. 

On  page  48,  Volume  i,  of  the  Newtown  Town  Records  is 
recorded  the  deed  given  by  Massumpus,  Mauquash  and 
Nunnawauk  acting  in  behalf  of  the  Pootatuck  tribe  of 
Indians,  to  William  Junos  and  Samuel  Hawley,  Jr.,  of 
Stratford,  and  Justus  Bush  of  New  York,  of  a  tract  of 
country  eight  miles  long  and  six  miles  wide  lying  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Great  River,  now  called  Housatonic,  and 
bordering  on  it. 

The  deed  was  given  in  the  reign  of  her  Majesty,  Queen 
Anne  and  reads  as  follows : 

"Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  yt  we  Mauquash,  Massumpas, 
Nunnawauk,  all  belonging  to  pootatuck  in  ye  Colony  of  Connecticut 
for  and  in  consideration  of  four  guns,  four  broadcloth  Coats,  four 
blanketts,  four  ruffelly  Coats,  four  Collars,  ten  shirts,  ten  pair  of 

stockings,  fourty  pound  of  lead,  ten ten  pounds  of  powder  and 

forty  knives,  to  us  promised  to  be  paid  as  by  these  bills  under  hand 
and  one  may  more  fully  approve,  we  say  we  have  Given,  Granted, 
Bargained  &  sold,  alienated,  Conveyed  and  Confirmed  and  by  these 
presents  do  freely,  fully  and  absolutely  Give,  Grant,  Bargain  sell, 
alienate,  convey  and  confirm  unto  William  Junos,  Justus  Bush,  and 
Samuel  Hawley  all  now  resident  in  Stratford  in  ye  Colony  aforesaid, 
a  Certain  Tract  of  land,  situate,  lying  and  being  in  the  Colony  of 
Connecticut,  Butted  and  Bounded  as  followeth,  viz.  Bounded  South 
upon  pine  swamp  and  land  of  Mr  Sherman  and  Mr  Rositer,  South 
West  upon  Fairfield  bounds,  North  West  upon  the  bounds  of  Dan- 


-46- 

bury,  North  East  by  land  purchased  by  Milford  men  at  or  near 
ovanhonock  and  South  East  on  land  of  Nunnaway  an  Indian,  the 
line  running  two  miles  from  the  river  right  against  pootatuck,  the 
sd  tract  of  land  Containing  in  length  eight  miles  and  in  breadth  five 
miles  but  more  or  less,  with  all  appurtanances,  privileges  and  con- 
ditions thereunto  belonging  or  in  any  wise  appertaining  to  them. 
The  said  William  Junos,  Justus  Bush  and  Samuel  Hawley,  their 
heirs  and  assigns  to  have  and  to  hold  forever  to  their  own  proper 
use,  benefit  and  behoof  for  ever,  and,  we  the  said  Mauquash,  Mas- 
sumpus  and  Nunnawauk  for  us  our  heirs  and  administrators  do 
covenant,  promise  and  grant  to  and  with  the  said  William  Junos, 
Justus  Bush  and  Samuel  Hawley,  their  heirs  and  assigns  yt  before 
ye  ensealing  thereof,  we  are  the  true,  sole  and  lawful  owners  of  ye 
above  bargained  premises  and  possessed  of  ye  same  in  our  own 
Right  as  a  good,  perfect  and  absolute  estate  of  Inheritance  in  fee 
simple,  and  have  in  ourselves  good  Right,  full  power,  and  Authority 
to  Grant,  bargain,  sell,  convey,  alien  and  confirm  the  same  and  all 
the  privileges  and  particulars  before  mentioned  in  manner  as  above 
said  and  yt  ye  said  Wm  Junos,  Justus  Bush  and  Samuel  Hawley, 
their  heirs  and  assigns  shall  and  may  from  time  to  time  and  at  al 
times  hereafter  by  virtue  of  these  presents  lawfully,  peaceably  and 
quietly,  Have,  hold  up,  occupy,  possess  and  enjoy  the  said  bargained 
premises  with  ye  appurtenances  free  and  alone  and  freely  and  clearly 
acquitted,  exonerated  and  discharged  of,  and  from  al  and  al  Manner 
of  former  and  other  Gifts,  Grants,  Sales,  losses,  Mortgages,  Wills, 
Intails,  Joyntures,  Dowries,  Judgments,  Enventory,  Incumbrances,  or 
other  incumbrances  whatsoever. 

Furthermore,  we,  ye  sd  Mauquash,  Massumpas  &  Nunnawauk, 
for  ourselves,  heirs,  executors  and  administrators  do  covenant  and 
engage  the  above  described  premises  to  them,  the  said  William  Junos, 
Justus  Bush  and  Samuel  Hawley,  their  heirs  and  assigns  against  the 
lawful  claims  or  demands  of  any  person  or  persons  whatsoever  for 
ever  hereafter,  to  warrant  and  defend.  Moreover,  we,  washunaman, 
was  nabye,  Moctowek,  Awashkoeum,  Annummobe,  Mattocksqua, 
Jirmohumpisho,  wompocowash,  munnaposh,  punnanta,  wannomo, 
mosunksio,  tacoosh,  morammoo,  Stickanungus,  susrousa,  we  and 
every  one  of  us  doth  for  ourselves  and  each  of  us  T>y  ourselves,  Do 
freely  give  grant  and  of  our  own  voluntary  mind  Resign  to  the  said 
William  Junos,  Justus  Bush  and  Samuel  Hawley  all  our  Right  title 
and  interest  by  possession,  heirship  or  by  any  other  way  or  means 
whatsoever.  Witness  our  hands  and  seals  July  ye  25  in  the 
fourth  year  of  her  Majesties  Reign,  Anno  Domino  1705.  Signed, 


—47— 

sealed  and  delivered  in  presence  of  Jacob  Walker,  Daniel  Denton, 
Edward  Hinman,  Indian  witnesses  Obimosk,  Nunawako,  Maquash 
&  Massumpas, 

Personally  appeared  at  potutuck  &  acknowledged  ye  above  written 
Instrument  to  be  thare  free  and  voluntary  act  &  deed  before  me  this 
I2th  September  1705,  Jon  Minor  Justice  Witness 

Ebenezer  Johnson.* 

The  above  written  is  a  true  copy  of  the  original  file. 

Test  Eleazor  Kimberly. 

Exactly  entered  and  compared  Jany  22,  1710  per  me.  Joseph 
Curtis,  one  of  the  committee  for  Newtown." 

As  the  General  Court  had  sole  power  and  control  of 
purchasing  Indian  lands,  the  three  men  acting  in  their 
individual  capacity  exceeded  their  power,  not  having  been 
appointed  a  committee  for  that  purpose.  Their  act  was 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  colony,  as  the  General  Court 
never  intended  that  any  Indian  lands  should  be  purchased 
in  the  interest  of  a  land  speculation.  The  deed  of  purchase 
bears  date  July  25,  1705,  which  corresponds  to  August  5, 
New  Style.  At  the  October  session  of  the  General  Court 
holden  in  New  Haven  the  same  year  of  the  purchase,  the 
following  vote  was  passed : 

"Whereas,  there  are  some  persons,  namely,  William  Junes,  Samuel 
Hawley,  Junr.,  of  Stratford,  and  Justus  Bush  of  New  York,  who 
have,  contrary  to  the  laws  of  this  colony,  lately  purchased  of  the 
Indians  some  thousand  of  acres  of  land  lying  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Stratford  river  as  appears  by  a  deed  of  said  purchase  now  in  the 
hands  of  the  Court,  this  court  doth  recommend  it  to  the  civil  author- 
ity in  the  county  of  Fairfield  to  take  care  that  the  said  offenders 
may  be  prosecuted  in  due  form  of  law  for  their  illegal  purchase 
of  lands  as  aforesaid  and  do  order  that  a  copy  of  the  said  deed  be 

*  The  historian  of  the  day  is  of  the  fifth  generation  in  direct  line 
of  descent  from  Ebenezer  Johnson,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  New- 
town,  and  whose  name  appears  as  witness  on  the  deed  given  by  the 
Indians.  The  names  of  the  Indian  witnesses  are  copied  as  written 
by  the  Recorder. 


-48- 

transmitted  to  the  said  county  court,  that  the  said  persons  may  be 
thereby  convicted,  and  likewise  to  order  prosecution  of  any  other 
persons  who  shall  be  found  to  make  or  have  made  any  such  illegal 
purchases  of  land  in  said  county." 

At  the  May  session  of  the  General  Court,  1706,  the 
following  act  was  passed : 

"  Whereas,  Justus  Bush  of  New  York,  Mr  Samuel  Hawley,  Junr., 
and  William  Junos  of  Stratford,  have,  without  liberty  from  this 
corporation,  purchased  a  tract  of  land  of  some  Indians  lying 
within  this  colony,  for  which  they  are  to  be  prosecuted  at  a  special 
county  court  in  Fairfield  in  June  next,  the  said  Junos  offering  to 
this  court  to  resign  to  this  corporation  his  part  of  said  purchase 
and  to  endeavor  that  his  partners  shall  do  the  like  before  or  at  this 
special  court,  this  court  do  therefore  see  cause  to  order,  that  if  the 
said  Bush  and  Hawley  and  Junos  do,  before,  or  at  the  said  county 
court  make  a  full,  free  and  firm  resignation  of  the  said  deed  or 
purchase  of  land  above  mentioned  to  this  corporation  and  deliver 
the  same  completed  according  to  law,  into  the  hands  of  Capt  Nathan 
Gold  and  Mr  Peter  Burr  or  either  of  them  for  the  use  of  this  cor- 
poration, that  then  the  above  said  prosecution  against  them  shall 
cease,  or  if  any  one  or  more  of  them  shall  do  the  same  for  his 
or  their  part,  he,  or  they  so  doing  shall  not  be  any  further  proceeded 
against  for  his  or  their  breach  of  law  in  making  the  above  said 
purchase,  and  the  person  or  persons  so  resigning,  may  present  at 
the  General  Court  in  October  next  the  account  of  his  or  their  charge 
of  their  purchase  above  said  for  the  Court's  consideration." 

As  the  parties  guilty  of  the  illegal  purchase  made  satis- 
factory restitution  to  the  demands  of  the  General  Court, 
no  prosecution  followed. 

When  the  land  purchased  was  measured  and  the  lines  run, 
which  was  not  until  1712,  nearly  a  year  after  the  incorpor- 
ation of  the  town,  the  following  vote  was  passed  at  a  town 
meeting  held  December  20,  1712  : 

"The  Inhabitants  Aforesaid  made  Choyce  of  John  Glover,  Jeames 
Harde,  Jeremiah  Turner,  and  John  Platt  A  Committy  To  measure 
ye  land  and  settle  ye  bounds  With  ye  Indians  of  That  Purchase 
Which  William  Junos  purchased  of  y6  Indians  with  his  asotiates 


in  ye  boundaryes  of  Newtown  and  to  request  Col  Jonson  and  Capt 
Miners'  assistance  to  declare  to  ye  indians  what  land  ye  sd.  indians 
sold  per  ye  Deed.  Also  to  procure  four  Gallons  of  rum  to  treate  ye 
indians  and  to  refresh  yemselves  and  Charge  ye  Town  debter  for 
ye  rum  and  all  other  charge  and  trebel  necassary  in  complecting  ye 
same." 

After  the  organization  of  the  town  and  the  survey  of  the 
lands  purchased  of  the  Indians  had  been  made,  it  was  found 
that  one  Indian,  Quiomph  so  called,  claimed  in  his  own 
personal  right  a  strip  of  land  alongside  the  Great  River, 
and  the  town  appointed  John  Glover  and  Abraham  Kimberly 
a  committee,  with  Thomas  Bennitt  and  Jonathan  Booth  as 
assistants,  to  buy  Quiomph's  land  that  he  had  laid  claim  to, 
declaring  himself  to  be  owner  of  all  the  land  not  heretofore 
purchased  by  the  English.  The  price  paid  him  by  the  town 
agents  was  16  pounds.  It  is  described  by  the  deed  as 
follows : 

"All  ye  land  in  ye  boundaries  of  Newtown  not  purchased  by  ye 
English  before  ye  date  of  these  presents,  except  a  corner,  of  intervale 
land  lying  by  ye  River,  and  is  bounded  easterly  by  ye  River  and  on 
all  ye  other  sides  by  a  brook  called  by  ye  Indians  'Hucko,'  from  ye 
River  until  ye  Brook  comes  down  between  ye  hills,  and  from  ye 
said  brook  where  it  comes  down  between  ye  hills,  a  straight  line 
direct  to  ye  River." 

This  is  the  only  recorded  sale  of  Indian  lands  that  was 
made  after  what  is  known  as  "the  first  purchase,"  though 
in  order  to  meet  any  emergency  or  dispute  that  might  arise, 
it  was 

"voted  at  a  town  meeting  held  January  12,  1713,  that  Captain 
Minor  of  Woodbury,  and  John  Glover  and  Abraham  Kimberly  of 
Newtown,  purchis  all  ye  land  withn  ye  bounds  of  Newtown  of  ye 
Indians  that  is  not  yet  sold  or  purchised  of  them,  and  ye  said 
Inhabitants  by  their  Clear  vote  doe  give  said  Captain  Minor,  John 
Glover  and  Abraham  Kimberly  full  power  and  Authority  to  Purchis 
all  ye  Indian  lands  in  ye  boundaries  aforesaid  or  as  much  as  ye 
Indians  will  sell,  for  ye  use  of  ye  Town,  ye  Town  Treasurer  to 


—50— 

pay  all  ye  Purchis  money  and  all  ye  Charge  and  trouble  ye  Pur- 
chisers  shall  Be  att." 

In  1/56  the  Connecticut  colony  reported  to  the  Crown 
that  there  were  1000  Indians  in  the  colony,  nearly  one-half 
dwelling  in  English  families  and  the  balance  in  small  clans 
in  various  parts  of  the  colony,  and  were  peaceably  inclined. 
The  white  population  in  the  colony  was  70,000. 

In  May,  1708,  the  Colonial  Legislature  gave  a  town  grant 
leaving  it  to  the  people  to  choose  between  Preston  and 
Newtown  for  a  name.  In  May,  1711,  the  town  was  given 
the  right  to  elect  local  officers,  and  a  town  clerk,  constable, 
surveyor  of  highways,  a  field  driver  and  fence  viewer 
were  chosen.  These  several  officers  were  obliged  to  go  to 
Danbury  to  take  the  oath  of  office. 

In  October,  1711,  the  town  was  incorporated  and  granted 
the  right  to  elect  townsmen  or  selectmen,  and  at  a  meeting 
held  at  the  house  of  Daniel  Foote,  December  4,  1711, 
Ebenezer  Pringle,  Samuel  San  ford  and  John  Platt  were 
chosen  selectmen,  thus  setting  in  motion  the  wheels  of  town 
government  which  have  continued  revolving  under  varying 
conditions  until  the  present  moment,  as  near  an  illustration 
of  perpetual  motion  as  we  are  likely  to  ever  discover. 

Next  in  order  of  business  came  the  laying  out  of  the 
township,  which  is  expressed  on  the  town  record  in  the 
following  terms : 

"All  of  that  tract  of  land  lying  on  the  west  side  of  Stratford  or 
Pohtatuck  river,  bounded  easterly  on  Stratford  and  part  of  Fairfield, 
westerly  upon  Danbury  and  a  line  running  from  the  southeast  corner 
of  Danbury  parallel  to  the  east  line  of  said  town  to  Fairfield  bounds, 
northerly  upon  New  Mil  ford  purchase  and  Pohtatuck  river  shall  be 
one  entire  town  known  by  the  name  of  Newtown." 

A  committee  was  then  appointed  and  authorized  by  the 
Legislature  to  survey  the  tract  of  land  and  consider  what 
number  of  inhabitants  it  would  conveniently  accommodate, 


determine  where  the  town  plot  should  be,  and  lay  out  a 
suitable  number  of  home  lots.  Esquire  Joseph  Curtis  of 
Stratford,  Capt  Joseph  Wakeman  of  Fairfield,  Mr.  John 
Sherman  of  Woodbury  and  Mr.  Thomas  Taylor  of  Danbury 
comprised  the  Legislative  committee.  The  first  allotment 
of  land  took  place  in  March,  1710.  The  allotment  as 
recorded  is  a  lengthy  document,  but  the  location  of  the  land 
can  easily  be  determined  from  the  records.  It  lay  on  the 
westerly  side  of  the  new  country  road  and  was  bounded  on 
the  west  by  the  great  pond  and  the  long  meadow.  This  long 
meadow  was  the  intervale  land,  comprised  in  what  we 
now  call  Head  of  the  Meadow  district,  and  bounded  on  the 
south  by  the  deep  brook.  It  included  the  plain  stretching 
to  the  southward  of  Mrs.  Philo  Clark's  and  the  ridge  of  land 
that  extends  northerly  from  her  house. 

There  were  22  proprietors  who  took  their  pitch  in  this 
first  allotment, 

"Ensign  richard  Hubbell,  Daniel  Bur  Senr,  theophilus  Hul,  Daniel 
Bur  Junr,  Captain  Bur,  Lieutenant  Samuel  Hubbell,  Mr  John  Reed, 
Mr  Chauncy,  Eben  Booth,  John  Miner,  Captain  Hawley,  theo  Lake, 
Mr  Samuel  Hawley,  Joseph  Curtice  Fairweather,  Capt  Judson,  jon 
Morris,  Wm  Jeanes,  Jon  Beardsley,  Ebenezer  Pringle,  Jeremia 
Turner,  Edward  lewes,  dan'll  Jackson,  Benja.  Sherman,  Thomas 
Benit." 

The  document  is  signed  by  Joseph  Curtice  and  Thomas 
Taylor,  two  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  Colonial 
Legislature.  The  lots  were  uniform,  each  containing  20 
acres.  The  record  is  as  follows: 

"An  a  Countt  of  a  Division  of  Land  laid  out  March  24,  1710,  by 
the  Committee  for  Newtown,  each  lot  Containing  20  acres, — Namely 
on  the  Hill  on  the  west  side  of  the  town  14  lots  already  laid  out 
to  perticularly  persons,  named  to  wit,  Josiah  Burit  the  north  lott, 
Abraham  Kimberly  the  south  lot,  only  Kimberly's  lot  contains  but 
9  acres  and  is  to  have  n  acres  more  adjoying  to  the  west  side 
Mr  Sherman's  farm  to  joint  with  ye  south  side  of  Mr  Sherman's 
farm,  60  acres  laid  out  to  Mr  Glover  in  one  piece  being  for  three 


—52— 

allotments  due  to  him  lying  northward  of  ye  said  town  on  ye  north 
side  of  a  brook.  Note  that  John  Griffin  in  lieu  of  ye  home  lot  layed 
out  to  him  accepts  of  land  layed  by  his  dwelling  house  and  hath 
two  acres  layed  at  the  east  end  of  his  twenty  acre  lott,  and  two  acres 
on  the  west  side  of  Mr  prindle's  home  lott  adjoying  to  itt.  Sixteene 
20  acre  lots  to  be  laid  out  west  of  Josiah  Burit's  lott,  and  that  rang 
of  20  acre  lotts,  in  three  parcels,  the  first  rang  on  ye  west  of  afore- 
said, contains  eight  lots  of  20  acres  each  from  the  south  to  the  north 
upon  the  first  hill  and  three  lots  on  a  hill  of  20  acres  each,  lying 
west  of  the  northerly  end  of  the  next  above  hill,  and  give  lots  of 
twenty  acres  each  on  the  next  hill  on  the  southwest  from  the  above 
hill  of  three  lots  and  butts  southerly  on  ye  great  pond,  five  lots  to 
be  laid  out  on  the  southerly  end  of  Mr  Sherman's  farm  and  Kim- 
berly's  land  above  mentioned,  each  containing  20  acres;  three  lots 
to  be  laid  out  of  20  acres  each  lying  on  the  westerly  side  of  the  new 
country  road  southerly  of  the  brook  called  by  the  name  of  the  Deep 
brook;  five  lots  to  be  laid  out  of  20  acres  each  lying  on  the  hill 
eastward  of  the  long  meadow  adjoining  to  the  deep  brook  on  the 
north  end." 

At  the  foot  of  the  document  are  the  names  and  figures 
showing  the  order  in  which  the  different  proprietors  took  up 
their  lots.  This  was  the  first  town  plot.  But  in  the  follow- 
ing summer,  1711,  another  allotment  was  made  easterly  of, 
and  adjoining  the  first,  being  practically  an  enlargement  of 
its  borders  and  on  this  second  plot  the  village  of  Xewtown 
was  laid  out. 

The  pioneers  were  no  more  unmindful  of  the  shortness 
and  uncertainty  of  human  life  than  we  are,  perhaps  not  as 
much  so,  for  in  the  same  year  of  the  town's  incorporation, 

1711,  the  town  by  vote  set  apart  one  acre  and  a  half  of 
ground  at  the  extreme  south  end  of  the  town  in  which  to 
bury  their  dead,  and  at  a  town  meeting  held  December  9, 

1712,  it  was  voted  that  "Stephen  Parmerly  shall  have  the 
use  of  one  acre  and  a  half  of  land  which  is  the  burying 
place  for  our  dead,  provided  he  clear  the  land  of  brush  and 
sow   it  with   Enelish   grass   seed."     The   plot   of   ground 
referred  to  is  the  south  end  of  our  village  cemetery  and  is 
known  as  the  old  part,  and  still  remains  the  town's  property. 


—53— 

This  was  the  only  recognized  place  for  burying  their  dead 
until  the  year  1748.  Here  are  to  be  found  headstones  that 
mark  the  graves  of  Newtown's  pioneers  who  died  between 
1741  and  1800.  These  are  one  hundred  and  fifty  in  number, 
but  no  headstones  have  been  found  that  bear  inscriptions 
previous  to  the  year  1741,  although  the  plot  was  set  apart 
for  a  burying  place  in  the  year  1711.  There  must  have  been 
many  burials  there  in  the  thirty  years  that  preceded  1741. 
Surely  it  would  be  a  fitting  thing  if  in  the  near  future  we 
should  raise,  by  voluntary  subscription,  money  enough  to 
enable  us  to  place  a  huge  boulder  in  that  open  space  in  the 
old  part,  with  a  bronze  tablet  inserted  thereon  inscribed  to 
the  "Memory  of  Newtown's  pioneers  who  lie  in  unmarked 
graves."  Believing  it  might  add  much  to  the  enjoyment  of 
this  occasion  to  remove  the  moss  that  two  centuries  had 
accumulated  on  the  old  headstones,  seventy  in  number 
have  recently  been  cleaned  and  the  inscriptions  made  legible. 
This  was  made  possible  at  this  juncture  from  the  fact  that 
a  medical  man  who  was  once  of  us  but  not  now  with  us,  gave 
very  generously  for  that  object  and  so  paved  the  way  for 
its  accomplishment. 

There  are  some  very  quaint  as  well  as  impressive  inscrip- 
tions on  these  old  stones,  of  which  I  cannot  forbear  to  copy 
a  few: 

Here  lyeth  interred 
the  earthly  remains  of 
the  Rev'd  John  Beach* 
A.M.  late  missionary      ^x,^ 

from  the 
^^*  Venerable  Society  for 

*  Bequeathed  in  his  will — "To  my  congregations  in  Newtown  and 
Redding  ten  pounds  each,  for  the  purpose  of  settling  another 
minister,  and  ten  pounds  for  Bibles  for  the  poor  of  each  of  my 
congregations." 

He  further  requested  to  be  buried  according  to  the  Liturgy  of 
the  Church  of  England. 


—54— 

the  propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  foreign  parts 
Who  exchanged  this  life 

for  immortality 
on  the  19th  Day  of  March 

1782 

Minister  in  the  Episcopal  Church  Newtown  Conn, 
from  1732  to  1782 

The  sweet  remembrance  of  the  just 
Shall  flourish  when  he  sleeps  in  dust. 
Reader  let  this  tablet  abide. 

In  memory  of 

Rev.  Philo  Perry 

Pastor  of  the  Episcopal 

Society  in  Newtown 

who  Died  Octor  7th  1760 

aged  46  years,  10  mos.  &  13  days. 

and  the  thirteenth  of  his  ministry. 

I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven 
Saying  unto  me  write 
From  henceforth  blessed  are  the 
Dead  who  die  in  the  Lord. 

Beneath,  the  Dust 

of  Sueton  Grant 

who  Died  October  7  1760 

aged  15  years,  10  months  &  13  days. 

the  son  of  Donald  Grant 

of  the  Parish  of  Duthel  in  the 

County  of  Inverness  in  Scotland 

and  of  Arminel  his  wife. 

"Loud  speaks  the  Grave 
My  Goal  unnerves  the  Strong 
My  shades  deform  the  Gay, 

the  Fair,  the  Young. 

ye  Youth  awaken  Catch  the  short  lived  Day 

Improve  your  Time  and  Talents 

while  you  may." 


55 

Beneath,  the  Dust  of 

Donald  Grant  who  Died 

Octor  18  1767  Aged  20  years 

i  month  and  3  days. 
Son  of  Donald  Grant  of  the 

Parish  of  Duthel 
in  the  County  of  Inverness 

Scotland, 
and  Arminel  his  Wife. 

In  Memory  of 

Reuben  H  Booth 

who  was  drowned 

Nov.  24  aged 

43  Years. 

How  in  an  instant  he  was  call'd 

Eternity  to  view 

Not  time  to  regulate  his  house 

Nor  bid  the  world  adiew. 

David,  son  of 

Mr  Jonathan  & 

Mrs.  Phebe, 

Booth  died 

Septr  ye  22  1753  aged 

4  Years  &  n  days. 

Joseph  Son  of 

Mr  Jonathan  & 

Mrs  Pheby 

Booth  died 

August  ye  II  1751 

Aged  3  Years  &  n  months. 

Here  lies  ye  Body 

of  Sarah  Booth 

Dautr  of  Mr  Jonathan 

&  Mrs  Pheby  Booth 

Died  Febry  15  1759 

in  ye  15th  Year 

of  her  Age. 


-56- 

In  Memory  of  Mrs  Saray 

Jane  widow  of  Mr  John 

July  ye  15  AD.  1750 
Aged  47  Years. 

In  Memory  of  Mr  Jo 

nathan  Booth.     He  Died  February 

Ye  8  A.  D  1755 

Aged  73  Years. 

In  Memory  of  the 

Revd  Mr  David  Judson 

Pastor  of  the  First 

Church  of  Christ  in 

Newtown  who  Departed 

this  Life  Septr  y6  24 

A.D.  1776  in  the  61 

Year  of  his  Age. 

David  son  of  Rev-  Mr 
David  Judson  and  Mary  Judson- 
died  Dec.  n  1749  aged  i  year 
6  months  &  20  Days- 
Here  Lyes  ye  Body 

of  Mary  Judson 
Daughter  of  the  Rev. 
David  Judson  and  his 
wife  Mary  who  died 

July  23  1752 
Aged  7  Years  &  20  days. 

To  the  Memory  of 

Mr  Lemuel  Camp 

Who  on  the  3o*h  Day  of  Jan*  1784 

In  the  83rd  Year  of  his  Age 

In  obedience  to  Nature's  law 

With  Meekness  &  Christian 

Fortitude 
resigned  his  Life  to  the 

Almighty  giver 

and  quietly  fell  asleep 

This  monument  is  inscribed. 


—57— 

The  marble  monument  may  yield  to  Time 

Time  to  Eternity — 
But  the  remembrance  of  the  just  shall  flourish 

When  Time  shall  cease 
And  Death  is  swallowed  up 

with  Victory. 

To  the  Memory  of 

Alice  Camp 

widow  of 

Lemuel  Camp 

Who  Died  Dec.  5  1796 

in  the  87^  Year 

of  her  Age. 

The  sweet  remembrance  of  the  Just 
Shall  flourish  when  they  sleep  in  Dust. 

In  Memory  of 

Mr  Abraham  Ferris 

who  died  April  y6  4  A.D  1789  in 

the  68th  Year  of  his  Age. 

No  Gift  of  Nature,  Art,  or  Grace 
exempted  from  the  Burying  Place 
All  must  obey  death's  solemn  Call 
Before  that  Tyrant  all  must  fall. 

To  the  memory  of  Mrs. 

Elizabeth  Jennings  Edmond, 

eldest  Daughter  of  the  late 

Hon.  John  Chandler  and  Mr8  Mary 

Chandler,  who  departed  this 

life  Feb.  17  1795  aged  29  years 

8  mos.  &  17  days. 

This  monument  is  erected  by  her 
Surviving  husband 
William  Edmond. 


-58- 

Here  lies  ye  Body 

of  Mr  John  Glover* 

He  died  in  ye  faith 

and  communion  of 

ye  Church  of  England 

June  ye  3  A  D.  1752 

&  in  ye  78  Year 

of  his  Age. 

"The  once  well  respected 

Mr  Daniel  Booth 

Here  rested  from  the  hurry 

of  Life,  the  8th  April,  A.  D.,  1777, 

Aged  LXXIII. 

Could  a  virtuous,  honest  and  amia- 
ble character,  Could  Blessings 
of  the  Poor  echoing  from  his  Gate, 

Could  ye  sympathetick 

Grief  of  an  aged  Partner  or  the 

Soft'ning  Tears  of  a  numerous  offspring 

Disarm  the  King  of  Terrors 

He  had  not  died.     What  is  Life? 

to  Answer  Life's  great  Aim. 

From  Earth's  low  prison,  from  this  vale  of  Tears, 
With  age  incumbered  and  oppressed  with  years, 
Death  set  Him  free,  his  Christ  had  made  his  Pe'ce, 
Let  grief  be  dumb,  let  pious  sorrow  cease." 

Read  the  testimony  of  Richard  Fairman  as  to  the  char- 
acter of  his  wife : 

Hear  lies  inter'd  the 
Body  of  Mr8  Jane  the 
Dear  Wife  of  Richard 
Fairman  Esqr  who  Dw- 
elt Together  in  the 
Married  State  30  ye- 

*  John  Glover  willed  to  his  wife  Elizabeth,  his  negro  man  and 
woman  and  his  negro  boy  Phillip.  It  was  also  his  expressed  wish 
"to  be  buried  according  to  the  manner  of  the  Church  of  England." 


—59— 

ars  Wanting  23  Days 
And  was  in  his  Opinion  A 
Woman  of  the  Best  sense  & 
judgment  that  he  was  E 
ver  Acquainted  With  A 
nd  He  Believes  truly  pious 
Who  departed  this  Life  in  the 
58  year  of  her  Age  May  16  A.D. 
1771. 

Safely  inter'd  Here  lies 

The  remains  of  Mrs  Mary, 

the  amiable  consort  of  Mr  Jab's. 

Baldwine,  who  made  her  exit  Jan., 

1770,  in  the  36  year  of  her  Age,  Leaving 

Behind  her  5  Children. 

When  a  fond  Mother's 

care  hath  nursed  her 

Babes  to  manly  size  She 

must  with  us'ry  pay 

the  Grave. 

To  the  Memory  of 
Mr  David  Curtiss, 

once 
the  agreeable  companion  and  the 

generous  friend  who  was 

suddenly  arrested  by  remorseless 

Death,  July  29,  A.  D.,  1783. 

in  the  42  year  of  his  age. 
This  monument  is  inscribed. 


"Of  this  man  may  it  be  with  propriety  said, 
His  friends  were  many,  enemies  few. 
The  partial  friend  may  virtues  magnify, 
The  flattering  marble  may  record  a  Lye, 
But  God  who  judgeth  righteously  and  just, 
Will  raise  his  children  from  the  sleeping  Dust, 
Proclaim  their  worth  in  Earth  in  Air  in  Heaven, 
Their  pardon  sealed,  and  write  their  sins  forgiven. 


In  Memory  of 

Mrs  Sally  Cooke 

2*  Wife  of  Daniel  B  Cooke 

who  departed  this  life 

Decr.  12  A.D.  1794 

Aged  20  Years, 
this  stone  is  erected, 

"Could  the  Piety  which  adorns 
or  Benevolence  which  endears 

human  Nature 
Could  tenderest  friendship 

or  the  Purest  Love 

Disarm  the  King  of  terrors 

She  had  not  Died." 

Much  interesting  history  might  be  given  of  those  old 
pioneers  whose  dust  lies  undisturbed  in  "God's  Acre," 
could  time  for  research  be  given  for  the  work. 

On  the  brow  of  the  hill  at  the  north  end  of  the  town  plot, 
where  the  ground  slopes  to  the  east  and  south,  stand 
headstones  that  mark  the  graves  of  one,  Donald  Grant  and 
three  of  his  children,  Sueton,  Elizabeth,  and  Donald,  Jr., 
who  died  respectively  in  1760,  1762,  1763,  the  father  himself 
dying  in  1767. 

On  each  of  these  headstones  is  inscribed — "of  the  Parish 
of  Duthel  In  ye  County  of  Inverness  in  Scotland." 
Impressed  with  the  thought  that  there  might  be  an  interest- 
ing history  connected  with  that  family,  an  intuitive  feeling 
led  me  to  correspond  with  Donald  Grant  Mitchell,  known  to 
the  literary  world  by  the  pseudonym  "Ike  Marvel." 
Through  him  I  learned  that  Donald  Grant's  daughter  Hannah 
was  his  paternal  grandmother,  and  on  two  recent  occasions 
when  I  visited  the  home  of  Mr.  Mitchell  at  Edgewood  near 
New  Haven,  I  was  very  kindly  received  and  hospitably 
entertained  listening  to  reminiscences  of  Donald  Grant  and 
his  family  and  admiring  relics  that  had  been  handed  down 
by  his  grandmother,  once  Hannah  Grant  the  daughter  of 


Donald  Grant,  and  born  June  28,  1749.  First  was  shown  to 
me  the  passport  that  was  given  the  young  man  when  he  left 
bonnie  Scotland  in  1732  at  the  age  of  twenty-four  years, 
crossing  a  trackless  ocean  to  make  for  himself  a  home  in 
America.  It  is  written  on  parchment  in  a  clear  legible  hand 
and  reads  as  follows : 

"Pass  Port 

Of 
Donald  Grant, 

1732 

By  the  Honorable  The 
Magistrates  of  the 
Burgh  of  Inverness. 

Permit  the  bearer  hereof,  Donald  Grant  of  the  Parish  of  Duthell  in 
this  County  to  pass  from  this  Wherever  his  business  may  require 
him,  without  lett  or  Molestation,  he,  behaving  himself  as  becometh. 
And  it  is  hereby  Certified  that  the  said  Donald  Grant  is  Descended 
of  honest,  reputable  parents  and  has  Hitherto  behaved  himself 
soberly  and  Honestly.  In  Testimony  Whereof,  We  have  hereunto 
sett  our  hands  and  Appointed  the  Seal  of  our  said  Burrow  to  be 
hereto  affixed  At  Inverness  the  fourteenth  Day  of  April  1732  years. 

To  All  Whom  it  may  concern. 
Witnessed  By 

John  Hossack, — Baillie. 
Thomas  Alvos, — Baillie. 
Collin  Campbell,— Baillie. 
Londonderry." 

When  Donald  Grant  landed  in  this  country  in  1732  he 
chose  Newtown  in  its  virgin  loveliness  and  fertility  in  which 
to  make  his  permanent  home.  Bringing  with  him  the  pass- 
port signed  by  the  Scotch  magistrates  of  his  mother  land, 
testifying  to  his  good  character,  what  else  could  have  been 
expected  of  him  but  that  he  would  make  the  good,  trusted 
citizen  which  he  became  ?  His  name  is  frequently  met  with 
in  the  first  volume  of  Newtown  records  in  connection  with 


business  transactions  and  official  duties  for  the  town.  And 
by  the  old  records  we  find  that  at  the  age  of  thirty-five  years, 
he  married,  December  7,  1743,  Arminel,  the  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Toucey,  the  first  minister  settled  in  Newtown. 
They  lived  together  twenty-four  years,  his  death  occurring 
in  1767,  the  death  of  three  of  their  children  preceding  his. 
Not  very  long  after  his  death,  his  widow  Arminel,  and  the 
daughter  Hannah,  who  was  eighteen  when  the  father  died, 
removed  to  Wethersfield.  The  widow  there  married  a 
Mr.  Mitchell  and  the  daughter  Hannah  married  his  son 
Stephen  Mix  Mitchell,  a  highly  educated  and  prominent  man 
of  Wethersfield,  and  in  due  course  of  time  she  became  the 
paternal  grandmother  of  Donald  Grant  Mitchell,  who  is 
still  a  well  preserved  man  of  eighty-three  years.  When 
at  his  house  he  showed  me  a  most  beautiful  oil  painting  of 
Mrs.  Hannah  Grant  Mitchell  taken  when  she  was  past 
eighty  years  of  age,  and.  remarking  upon  her  rare  beauty, 
he  informed  me  that  if  I  could  find  a  certain  old  book  "Old 
Merchants  of  New  York"  I  would  find  in  that,  allusion  to 
her,  as  she  was  in  her  younger  days.  The  search  was  made 
and  I  was  rewarded  by  finding,  copied  from  "Freeman's 
New  York  Almanac  for  the  year  of  our  Lord  1765"  a 
portion  of  a  journal  kept  by  a  New  York  merchant  while 
making  a  trip  on  horseback  from  New  York  to  Guilford  in 
the  Colony  of  Connecticut  and  back  to  New  York.  He 
was  from  September  13  to  September  25 — twelve  days — 
making  the  round  trip,  passing  through  Danbury,  Newtown, 
Stratford,  New  Haven,  Branford,  Killingworth  and  Guil- 
ford, on  the  outward  trip,  stopping  over  one  Sunday  in 
Newtown  and  returning  through  Guilford,  Branford,  New 
Haven,  Stratford,  Fairfield,  Norwalk  and  on  to  New  York. 
I  copy  from  this  journal  his  allusion  to  Newtown: — 

"Left  New  York  Sunday  September  13.     Reached  Danbury  Thurs- 
day evening,  and  of  Danbury  it  is  said  to  be  a  very  pleasant  New 


-63- 

England  town,  regularly  laid  out  in  lots  with  a  church  and  meeting 
house.  Left  Tom  and  his  friend  to  provide  a  supper  dinner. 

Friday  September  18.  Arose  by  six  this  day.  Hard  rain.  Hired 
a  guide  and  a  horse,  borrowed  a  woman's  cloak  for  Tom,  mounted 
him  behind  the  man  and  took  charge  of  leading  the  horse  myself. 
Roads  wet,  splashy,  hilly,  rocky  and  stony.  Stopped  at  Landlord 
Fairchilds  three  miles  short  of  Newtown.  Baited,  and  shaved  our- 
selves, remounted  and  got  to  our  friends  by  10  o'clock — (distance 
II )  whom  we  found  waiting  upon  his  poor  distressed  friend  Donald 
Grant.  Here  lives  the  old  gentleman's  daughter  Hannah,  fairest 
among  the  fair.  I  have  not  yet  seen  her. 

Saturday  ipth  Rain  continues.  At  dinner,  the  lovely — oh  for  Mr 
Bolton — the  too  lovely  Miss  Grant,  made  her  appearance.  Grace  in 
every  step  and  dignity  in  all  her  actions.  What  is  very  remarkable 
in  this  young  lady's  real  character,  amidst  a  crowd  of  admirers  and 
danglers  she  has  preserved  the  utmost  simplicity. 

This  day  we  have  walked  between  the  showers  about  this  beauti- 
fully situated  town,  the  country  all  around  most  agreeably  diversified 
and  improved.  Sabbath  begins  Saturday  at  sundown  in  this  religious 
country.  Spent  a  serious  evening.  No  mirth,  no  festivity,  no  going 
to  a  sick  house. 

We  were  favored  all  the  evening  with  the  fair  one's  company  but 
not  conversation.  She  read  "Mr  Spec"  all  the  while.  Mr  Brown 
and  Sir  Richard  did  the  same,  together  with  the  lawyer  Botsford 
who  lives  in  the  same  house,  a  genteel  young  fellow  and  an  humble 
admirer. 

Sunday  September  20.  Fine  morning,  Rose  early.  Shaved  in  our 
rooms  early,  out  of  sight.  (Sin  to  shave  on  Sunday.)  Dressed  and 
went  to  meeting.  No  church  this  day.  An  execrable  preacher, 
Mister  Benbee.  The  evening  service  we  likewise  attended  and  then 
desired  to  know,  if  we  might  indulge  ourselves  with  a  walk  but  were 
refused,  until  sun  was  down. 

We  then,  accompanied  with  Mr  Botsford  sauntered  until  we 
reached  a  chestnut  tree  which  he,  conscientious  gentleman,  would  not 
so  far  break  the  Sabbath,  though  it  might  be  said  to  be  over,  as  to 
pluck  a  single  fruit  off,  but  when  picked,  he  ate  most  greedily  of, 
even  so  far  as  to  distance  us  who  were  employed  knocking  them 
down. 

Grave  subjects  concluded  the  evening,  and  we  retired  to  rest,  I 
having  first  wrote  two  letters,  one  to  Mr  Cook  Danbury,  the  other 
to  Dr.  Perry  Woodbury  concerning  Mr.  Donald  Grant's  case. 

N.B.     Spoke  to  Mrs  Botsford  for  Dr.  Thomas  Newtown. 


-64— 

Monday  Sept.  21.  Rose  early.  Fine  morning.  Disturbed  the 
family,  took  our  leave  and  proceeded  on  our  journey.  Plenty  of 
mushrooms  along  our  path  which  we  cooked  and  ate. 

N.B.    Would  not  let  us  pay  a  farthing.     Set  off  at  half  past  six." 

When  Donald  Grant  died  he  left  by  Will  which  is 
recorded  in  Probate  Records  of  Danbury,  ten  pounds  money 
for  the  North  school  in  Newtown,  and  ten  pounds  money 
for  the  South  school  in  Newtown  and  ten  pounds  money  for 
a  bell  for  the  meeting  house  provided  the  bell  should  be 
bought  in  England. 

More  might  be  told  of  the  family,  but  enough  has  been 
given  to  show  what  patient  research  and  persistent  effort 
might  bring  forth  of  the  history  of  many  of  those  whose 
dust  has  lain  undisturbed  for  more  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years. 

In  1748  the  town  laid  out  to  the 

"people  living  at  ye  northwest  part  of  ye  township  of  Newtown, 
upon  their  desire,  sixty  rod  of  land  for  a  Bureing  place  to  Bury 
their  dead  in  at  a  place  Northerly  off  or  from  Benjamin  Hawley's 
Dwelling  House.  First  Bounds  is  a  heap  of  stones  in  the  line  of 
Caleb  Baldwin's  land,  then  run  southly  6  rods  to  a  heap  of  stones, 
then  run  westerly  n  rods,  joining  to  the  Highway,  then  run  North- 
erly 5  rods  to  first  bounds  land  layed  out  by  us.  Joseph  Bristol, 
Lemuel  Camp,  Committee." 

In  that  burying  place  stands  a  headstone  that  marks  the 
grave  of  Jeremiah  Turner,  the  first  white  child  born  in 
Newtown. 

Attendance  at  town  meetings  was  made  compulsory  and 
a  fine  of  three  shillings  was  imposed  upon  all  who  failed  to 
attend  who  could  give  no  valid  reason  for  absence.  It  was 
considered  due  notice  of  the  meeting  if  a  selectman  or 
constable  should  notify  personally  or  leave  notice  at  the 
dwelling  house  of  the  person  to  be  notified. 

Grist  mills  and  saw  mills  were  almost  as  much  a  neces- 
sity as  houses  to  live  in,  for  unless  people  had  mills  in  which 


-65- 

to  grind  their  grain  they  must  go  to  Stratford  or  Danbury 
for  their  flour  or  go  without.  Without  saw  mills  they 
would  have  to  depend  for  lumber  upon  the  crudest  of  ways, 
by  rending  it,  for  use.  At  the  second  town  meeting,  held 
December  4,  1711,  Benjamin  Sherman,  Ebenezer  Pringle 
and  John  Griffin  were  appointed  a  committee  to  view  the 
great  pond  and  see  if  it  would  contain  a  grist  mill.  It  was 
further  voted  that  Jeremiah  Turner  should  have  liberty  to 
build  a  grist  mill  and  that  he  should  be  given  40  acres 
adjoining  the  mill,  and  a  committee  of  three,  Benjamin 
Sherman,  Ebenezer  Pringle  and  Samuel  Sanford,  were 
appointed  to  draw  articles  concerning  a  grist  mill  on  Pond 
brook. 

December  24,  1711,  it  was  voted  to  get  a  grist  mill  on 
•Poodertook  brook.  Jeremiah  Turner  did  not  build  a  grist 
mill  upon  Pond  brook,  and  the  town  gave  Samuel  Sanford 
liberty  to  do  the  same.  For  some  reason  Sanford  did  not 
build  the  mill,  and  in  January,  1714,  the  town  gave  Samuel 
Sanford  liberty  to  set  a  grist  mill  near  Mount  Pisgah  on 
condition  that  he  would  build  a  good  grist  mill  for  the  sup- 
ply of  the  town  of  Newtown  before  the  twentieth  day  of 
August,  1714,  on  the  Poodertook  brook,  the  town  agreeing 
that  no  other  grist  mill  should  be  erected  to  the  damage  of 
said  Sanford  so  long  as  he  would  supply  the  town  with  a 
good  mill.  The  town  also  agreed  to  give  him  40  acres  of 
land  lying  under  Mount  Pisgah  together  with  the  land  lying 
southwest  of  the  mountain  to  the  farm  known  as  the  "old 
farm."  So  the  first  grist  mill  was  located  in  Sandy 
Hook,  now  called.  The  mill  of  200  years  ago  is  gone. 
Another  stands  on  the  old  foundations.  Mount  Pisgah 
still  forms  the  background.  Generations  have  passed  away, 
but  though  men  may  come  and  men  may  go,  the  streams 
flow  on  forever. 

In  March,  1712,  the  town  voted  liberty  to  build  a  saw  mill 
on  Deep  brook  and  one  was  built,  where  W.  C.  Johnson's 


—66— 

feed  mill  now  stands.  The  following  October  liberty  was 
given  John  Hawley  to  set  a  fulling  mill  on  the  Deep  brook 
above  the  saw  mill  and  the  use  of  half  an  acre  of  land  above 
his  mill,  provided  he  does  not  damnify  the  saw  mill  so  long 
as  he  maintains  a  sufficient  fulling  mill  on  Deep  brook.  The 
place  is  known  as  "Fulling  Mill  hole"  to  this  day. 
February  i,  1714,  the  town 

"voted  to  give  liberty  to  Ebenezer  Smith,  James  Hard,  Jeremiah 
Turner,  John  Seeley  and  Joseph  Gray  of  Newtown  to  build  a  saw 
mill  on  Half  Way  River,  northwest  of  Derby  road,  down  near  Strat- 
ford, on  Poodertook  river,  and  as  much  land  as  shall  be  needful  for 
said  saw  mill  as  long  as  said  persons  shall  erect  a  saw  mill  there, 
provided  they  will  saw  for  the  town  to  the  halves  and  all  such  timber 
and  logs  as  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  shall  bring  to  their  mill  for 
2s  6d  per  hundred,  and  also  shall  have  liberty  of  convenient  passage 
to  the  Great  River." 

February  2,  1714,  another  town  meeting 

"voted  to  give  Thomas  Bennitt,  John  Burr  and  Peter  Hubbell  liberty 
to  set  a  saw  mill  on  Poodertook  brook  anywhere  near  the  Great 
River,  within  60  rod  of  the  Great  River,  provided  they  build  it  any 
time  within  three  years." 

The  foundations  of  the  mill  still  stand,  a  short  distance 
below  the  lower  Rubber  factory.  So  before  1715  the  town 
was  supplied  with  a  grist  mill  and  three  saw  mills,  important 
adjuncts  to  any  inland  town  at  so  early  a  date.  The  records 
also  speak  of  a  path  that  goes  from  Poodertook  to  Danbury 
as  early  as  1714,  but  no  road. 

In  1718  the  town  voted  that  a  town  house  or  school  house 
should  be  built  twenty-five  feet  square  and  eight  feet 
between  the  joints.  It  was  built  by  contract,  the  builders  to 
furnish  all  the  timber,  make  the  frame,  get  all  the  shingles 
and  clapboards,  the  town  furnishing  the  nails.  They  were 
to  receive  for  their  work  ten  pounds  money.  The  building 
stood  on  the  highway  just  north  of  where  Trinity  church 
now  stands  and  remained  there  until  1733. 


ST.   JOHN  S   CHURCH 
SANDY    HOOK 


-67- 

In  November,  1715,  the  first  country  road  was  laid  out 
by  a  committee  chosen  by  the  town,  called  the  road  to  Wood- 
bury,  commencing  at  the  center  of  the  town,  running  east- 
erly to  Poodertook  brook,  thence  towards  the  Housatonic 
river.  The  highway  was  laid  out  25  rods  in  width,  with  a 
cart  bridge  across  the  Poodertook.  The  same  is  the  high- 
way now  from  the  town  street  to  Sandy  Hook,  though 
somewhat  curtailed  as  to  width.  A  second  layout  of  road 
was  made  the  same  month  and  year,  called  the  country  road 
towards  Stratford,  running  south  from  the  center  three 
miles,  to  what  is  now  known  as  Cold  Spring,  where  the 
Poodertook  was  crossed  by  a  cart  bridge.  A  few  years  later 
a  highway  was  laid  out,  10  rods  in  width,  northerly  to  the 
New  Milford  line,  crossing  Pond  brook  at  the  north  end  of 
the  town  over  a  horse  bridge.  Another  road  10  rods  in 
width  was  laid  out  running  westward  from  the  center  past 
the  Great  pond  to  a  place  called  Taunton.  These  four 
highways  radiating  from  the  center  of  the  town,  as  the  four 
points  of  the  compass,  with  extensions  and  branches  as  they 
now  have,  reaching  out  in  all  directions,  have  become  a 
network  of  lanes,  highways  and  byways  that  are  a  delight 
to  the  naturalist,  the  artist  and  the  botanist,  and  at  the  same 
time  a  burden  to  the  taxpayers  and  a  perplexity  to  the  town 
fathers. 

In  1725  the  town  preferred  a  memorial  to  the  General 
Court,  then  in  session  at  Hartford,  for  relief  from  taxation 
for  that  year  because  of  their  distressed  condition.  The 
Court  voted  (Colonial  Records,  vol.  6,  p.  556), 

"Upon  the  memorial  of  the  town  of  Newtown  showing  to  this 
Assembly  that  said  town  is  at  present  under  pressing  circumstances 
occasioned  by  the  removal  of  their  former  minister  and  their  settling 
another,  being  weakened  by  their  disunion  in  opinion  which  hath 
been  and  is  still  among  them,  and  remarkably  cut  short  in  their  crops 
this  present  year  by  the  frost,  by  all  which  they  are  much  straitened 
and  incapacitated  to  pay  a  rate  to  the  publick.  This  Assembly  there- 
fore upon  the  special  reasons  aforesaid  do  see  cause  to  free,  and  do 


hereby  exempt  and  free  the  inhabitants  of  said  town  from  paying 
any  county  rate  for  the  year  next  ensuing,  provided  the  town  of 
Newtown  draw  no  money  for  their  schools  nor  send  representatives 
to  this  Assembly  during  their  exemption." 

In  the  early  days  of  the  Colony  letters  and  newspapers 
were  delivered  by  post  riders,  who,  on  horseback,  went  over 
their  respective  routes  as  laid  out  for  each  by  the  General 
Court.  The  Court  fixed  the  compensation  for  travel  from 
town  to  town,  and  also  fixed  the  price  that  might  be  charged 
by  the  ordinary  keepers  in  the  respective  plantations,  who 
should  provide  suitable  accommodations  for  man  and  horse, 
which  should  be,  for  the  keep  of  man  by  the  meal,  six  pence, 
for  the  horse  at  grass  four  pence  a  night,  and  for  oats  four 
pence  a  half  peck,  and  for  hay  the  night,  four  pence.  Great 
care  was  to  be  had  by  the  ordinary  keepers  that  hired  horses 
were  not  to  be  deprived  of  their  allowance. 

In  1733  the  General  Court  voted  that  Peter  Hubbell  have 
liberty  to  set  up  a  ferry  across  the  river  running  between 
Newtown  and  Woodbury,  at  a  place  commonly  called 
Poodertook,  and  that  the  fare  of  said  ferry  be  three  pence 
for  a  single  man  or  a  single  horse,  and  eight  pence  for  man, 
horse  and  load,  the  stating  of  the  fare  of  said  ferry  to 
remain  in  the  hands  of  the  Court. 

In  1748  the  Court  changed  the  fare,  and  it  was  for  man, 
horse  and  load  four  and  six  pence ;  led  horse,  one  penny ;  a 
foot  man,  one  and  a  half  penny ;  ox  or  other  kine,  three 
pence  half  penny ;  hog  or  goat,  one  half  penny. 

In  the  early  history  of  the  town  it  was  the  custom  at  the 
annual  town  meeting  for  the  town  to  pass  a  vote  as  to  what 
person  might  keep  a  house  of  entertainment.  As  all  travel 
for  many  years  was  on  horseback  or  on  foot,  the  transient 
travel  was  light,  and  not  until  after  the  close  of  the 
Revolutionary  war  did  wagons  come  into  general  use  and 
travel  increase  so  as  to  make  it  any  inducement  to  keep  open 
what  came  to  be  known  as  the  tavern. 


Newtown  played  no  small  part  in  the  French  and  Indian 
wars.  We  can  find  no  information  at  the  Adjutant 
General's  office  at  Hartford  in  regard  to  it,  but  I  have  in 
my  possession  a  memorandum  book  that  dates  back  to 
1757.  The  book  belonged  to  William  Beardslee,  who  lived 
within  an  eighth  of  a  mile  of  my  own  home,  and  many  of 
the  entries  in  the  diary  show  that  he  was  a  teamster  in  the 
French  and  Indian  war,  although  he  was  a  mason  by  trade. 
The  diary  may  tell  its  own  story. 

Ensign  John  Nichols,  Dr., 

For  14  days  service  at  driving  your  team,  which  service  began 
March  31,  A.  D.,  1757,  and  so  continued  till  my  Return  from  Kender- 
hook  at  3  shillings  per  day,  £2  09  o 

To  money  expended  upon  Team,  £o    06    o 

To  28  days  service  at  Driving  Team  to  Millers  and  attending  them 
at  3  shillings  per  day,  £3  18  o 

To  16  days  more  at  driving  Team  after  said  Team  was  entered 
into  the  service,  £2  08  o 

Then  follow  the  names  of  those  enlisted  in  the  French 
and  Indian  war  in  1757 : 

William  Stickney,  Thomas  Greenleaf,  Thomas  Knight,  Nathaniel 
Hunt,  Jonathan  Rogers,  William  Muggridge,  Samuel  Wallanford, 
Thomas  Sweet,  Joseph  Coffin,  William  Coffin,  Joseph  Garland, 
Thomas  Ford,  Joseph  Greenleaf,  Francis  Holody,  John  Holody,  Sar- 
geant  Weed,  Elimalet  Weed,  Daniel  Norton,  Morel  Wicker,  Daniel 
Tilton,  John  Flood,  Ebenezer  Flood,  William  Cursel,  Ballard  Smith, 
George  Patterson,  Benjamin  Wenter,  John  Downing,  Joseph  Coker, 
Daniel  Dooer,  Josiah  Brown." 

Following  is  a  copy  of  a  letter  in  my  possession,  which  is 
an  echo  from  the  field  to  the  home  circle.  The  writer  was 
the  son  of  Mr.  Heth  Peck,  among  the  earliest  of  the 
pioneers. 


—70— 

"At  Lake  George, 

July  27,  A  D.,  1758. 

To  My  Beloved  Heth :  Hoping  these  lines  will  find  you  as  well  as 
I  and  the  rest  that  came  from  Newtown,  and  remember  me  to  my 
father  and  mother,  brother  and  sisters,  and  threw  God's  goodness 
I  am  preserved  through  many  Dangers  that  I  Have  Bin  in  thanks 
be  to  God  therefore.  There  was  18  men  at  Half  Way  Brook,  there 
were  three  Captains,  two  Subalterns  and  one  ensign.  There  was  a 
man  hanged  the  25th  day  for  stealing.  I  want  to  have  you  heare  a 
Litil  while.  Sargeant  Summers  sent  hum  to  have  Robert  Cum  up 
and  bring  him  up  sum  Chease  and  other  provition,  and  if  he  cums 
if  you  can  send  up  sum  chease  and  some  biskit,  and  so  no  more  at 
present. 

I  remain  your  Loving  brother,  and  when  this  you  see  then  you 
think  of  me." 

Here  is  a  bit  of  pathos  in  an  entry  taken  from  Rev.  David 
Judson's  record: 

"September  27,  1758,  Lost  in  the  army  by  the  sword  of  the  Enemie, 
a  son  of  William  Northrop,  aged  about  20  years." 

An  entry  found  in  an  old  town  record  reads  as  follows : 

"Calvin  Leavenworth  the  eldest  son  of  Thos.  and  Mary  Leaven- 
worth,  departed  this  Life  by  being  Killed  at  Lake  George  in  the 
battle  fought  between  the  french  and  english  September  the  8th 
1755  and  in  2Qth  yeare  of  his  age." 

In  1733  upon  the  petition  of  the  people  of  the  north  end 
of  the  town,  the  town  voted  "that  a  school  house  might  be 
built  near  the  house  of  Abraham  Bennitt  provided  it  be 
built  at  their  own  expense,"  which  was  done  and  the  same 
was  where  the  North  Center  school  house  now  stands  and 
was  known  as  the  North  school.  At  the  same  meeting  it 
was  voted  "that  the  south  end  of  the  town  should  have 
liberty  to  remove  the  town  or  school  house  towards  the 
south  end  where  it  shall  be  thought  most  convenient  for  the 
neighborhood,  at  their  own  expense,"  which  was  done,  and 


it  was  located  where  the  Middle  district  school  house  now 
stands  and  was  known  as  the  south  school. 

The  school  districts  of  the  town  were  formed  as  the  needs 
of  different  sections  required.  North  Center  and  Middle 
district  were  organized  in  1733,  Taunton  in  1739,  Land's 
End  and  Zoar  in  1745,  Palestine  in  1749,  Hanover  in  1755, 
South  Center  in  1761,  Huntingtown  in  1794,  Pootatuck  in 
1765,  Lake  George  in  1768,  Flat  Swamp  in  1769,  Sandy 
Hook  in  1779,  Bear  Hills  in  1783,  Head  of  Meadow  in  1784, 
Gray's  Plain  in  1784,  Toddy  Hill  in  1788,  Gregory's 
Orchard,  Hope  well  and  Half  Way  River  date  unknown, 
Walnut  Tree  Hill  in  1866. 

With  few  exceptions  the  districts  retain  the  name  given 
at  their  formation.  The  exceptions  are  that  Sandy  Hook 
was  first  called  Poodertook  Brook  district,  Land's  End  was 
known  as  Wiskenere,  Hanover  was  at  the  first  Two  Mile 
Brook  district,  and  South  Center  was  first  called  Kettletown, 
then  Tinkerfield,  and  Bear  Hills  is  now  Middle  Gate. 

In  1767  a  district  was  organized  known  as  Deep  Brook 
district  and  the  school  house  stood  east  of  and  near  the 
home  of  Hermon  H.  Peck.  It  was  called  the  Federal 
school  house.  In  1768  Slut's  Hill  district  was  organized 
and  in  1770  Currituck  district.  These  two  districts  were 
organized  to  relieve  the  condition  of  the  North  school,  which 
had  overflowed  its  capacity.  These  three  last  named 
districts  became  absorbed  by  other  districts  in  a  few  years, 
thus  losing  their  identity. 

Until  about  the  year  1800  the  several  district  committees 
were  appointed  at  the  annual  town  meeting  and  the  laying 
of  a  tax  on  the  rateable  estates  of  the  town  to  meet  the 
expense  of  the  schools  was  kept  up  until  the  management 
of  the  schools  was  given  over  to  practically  the  present 
district  system,  each  district  paying  its  own  school  expenses 
until  by  state  law  the  schools  become  free.  The  town  still 
has  its  21  school  districts  and  schools  are  maintained  40 
6 


—72— 

weeks  in  the  year.  Three  years  ago  the  town  voted  to  estab- 
lish and  maintain  a  High  School.  It  commenced  on 
its  fourth  year  in  September  with  three  teachers  and  eighty 
pupils.  Every  taxpayer  in  the  town  should  feel  a  just  pride 
in  the  record  it  is  making  for  itself. 

School  districts  existed  for  the  convenience  of  the  larger 
towns  as  early  as  1725,  but  were  not  recognized  by  law  until 
1766  and  had  no  semblance  of  corporate  existence  -until 
1794. 

The  meetings  held  by  the  free  holders  of  Newtown 
for  calling  the  first  minister  who  accepted,  were  under  date 
of  April  29  and  May  21,  1713,  as  follows: 

At  a  lawful  town  meeting  of  ye  Inhabitants  of  Newtown  Voted  & 
agreed  for  Ebenezer  Smith  to  go  to  Weathersfield  to  treat  with  Mr 
Tousy  of  Weathersfield  &  request  him  to  come  and  Give  us  a 
visit  &  Preach  a  Sabbath  or  two  with  us  that  we  May  Have  Opor- 
tunity  to  Discorce  him  in  Order  to  carry  on  ye  work  of  y6  ministry 
Amongst  us.  test  John  Glover  Recorder 

May  y6  21st  1713 — 

Voted  &  Mad  Choyce  of  John  Glover  Mr  Ebenezer  Smith  &  Mr 
Benjamin  Sherman  A  Committee  to  discorse  &  treat  with  Mr. 
Thomas  Towsee  of  Weathersfield  in  order  to  settle  Amongst  us  to 
carry  on  ye  work  of  y6  Ministry  in  this  Place  This  meeting  is 
a  journed  until  to  morrow  night  sun  half  Anour  high  from  ye  date 
Above. 

At  y6  said  ajoyrned  meeting  ye  Inhabitants  aforesaid  Voted  to 
sow  all  y6  Ministers  home  lott  with  wheat  that  is  suitable  Mr 
Towsee  to  have  y6  Crop  Provided  y6  sd  Mr  Thomas  Towsee  preach  y6 
Gospel  Amongst  us  a  Yeare.  The  Inhabitants  aforesaid  at  sd  meet- 
ing further  voted  and  agreed  and  Made  Choice  of  Mr  Thomas 
Towsee  for  to  preach  ye  gospel  Amongst  us  for  y6  space  of  a  year 
upon  Probation  in  order  to  settlement 

John  Glover  Recorder. 

As  to  the  way  in  which  the  town  provided  its  minister  with 
his  fire  wood  the  following  recorded  vote  will  show : 

Agreed  and  voted  by  y«  Inhabitants  aforesaid  to  get  Mr  Toucey  his 
fire  wood  the  year  1721  by  a  Rate  Leavied  out  of  ye  List  of  y«  Estates 


—73— 

of  ye  Inhabitants  afore  sd,  at  one  penny  per  pound;  y6  price  of  a 
load  of  wood,  walnut  wood  is  to  be  2s — 6d.  A  load  of  Oak  or  other 
good  wood  is  2s  a  load,  y6  aforesaid  Wood  is  to  be  Carted  or  sledded 
by  y6  Last  of  jan1^  or  y6  first  of  February  Next,  and  If  any  man 
Shall  neglect  to  Give  in  his  A  Count  of  his  wood  unto  y?  Collector 
of  ye  Wood  Rate  Shall  by  Virtue  of  this  Vote  be  as  Lyable  to  be 
strained  upon  for  his  wood  rate  as  he  yl  has  Got  no  wood  for  y8 
aforesaid  Mr  Tousey. 

Voted  that  Dan11  Foott  Shall  be  &  is  a  pointed  Colector  for  to 
Tak  Care  of  &  Colect  ye  above  sd  wood  rate  according  to  vote,  or 
as  the  Law  Directs  for  ye  Gathering  other  town  Rates. 

test  Joseph  Peck  Town  Clerk. 

Rev.  Thomas  Toucey  was  the  first  minister  Newtown 
had.  He  was  born  at  Wethersfield,  Conn.,  in  1688,  gradua- 
ted at  Yale  College  in  1707  and  settled  in  Newtown  in  1709. 
He  was  ordained  minister  by  the  ecclesiastical  council  in 
October,  1715,  was  married  to  Hannah  Clark  of  Mil  ford 
November  12,  1717,  and  became  the  father  of  nine  children. 
He  resigned  his  ministry  in  1724,  having  become  disturbed 
by  dissatisfaction  among  the  members,  went  to  England  and 
received  a  captain's  commission  from  the  British  Crown. 
On  his  return  from  England  he  took  up  the  practice  of  med- 
icine, filled  many  town  offices,  was  a  sound  business  adviser, 
and  died  March  14,  1761.  A  blue  slate  slab  marks  his  grave 
in  the  old  part  of  our  village  cemetery,  on  which  is  this 
inscription. 

Here  lies  interred  the  Body  of 

Thomas  Tousey  Esqr 
who  Died  March  14  1761 
in  the  74th  Year  of  his  Age. 
Down  to  an  impartial  Grave's  devouring  shade 
Sink  Human  Honors  and  the  Hoary  Head 
Protract  your  years,  acquire  what  mortals  can 
Here  see  with  deep  Concern  the  End  of  Man. 

Religious  meetings  were  held  in  dwelling  houses  until  the 
building  of  the  meeting  house  the  location  for  which  was 
fixed  by  vote  of  the  town,  January  18,  1719,  to  be  where  the 


—74— 

lane  that  runs  easterly  and  westerly  intersects  the  main 
town  street  that  runs  northerly  and  southerly.  That  loca- 
tion was  near  where  the  flag  staff  in  the  village  now  stands. 
The  building  was  50  feet  in  length,  36  feet  in  breadth  and 
20  feet  between  joints.  The  cost  of  it  was  to  be  45  pounds. 
The  meeting  house  remained  there  until  1792,  when  it  was 
removed  to  another  foundation  on  which  the  Congregational 
church  now  stands.  In  1803  the  General  Court  allowed 
the  society  to  raise  3000  dollars  by  a  lottery  to  be  used  in 
building  a  new  meeting  house,  the  frame  work  of  which  is 
that  of  the  remodeled  building  of  to-day. 

At  a  Proprietors  meeting  held  December  30,  1740,  it  was 
voted 

"that  for  y*  futur  and  until  ye  proprietors  of  y6  Common  and  un 
divided  land  of  said  Newtown  by  their  major  vote  shall  order 
otherwise  that  a  warning  under  ye  hands  of  the  proprietors'  dark 
for  y6  time  being  and  five  of  y*  proprietors  of  said  common  and 
undivided  lands  in  writing  set  up,  one  on  a  tree  on  ye  highway 
near  Jonathan  Booth's  house  and  one  on  y6  sign  post  near  y* 
meeting  house  and  one  on  a  tree  on  y*  highway  near  James  Bots- 
ford's  house  in  sd.  Newtown  at  least  six  days  before  sd.  meeting 
shall  be  Deemed  a  good  warning  to  all  intents  &  purposes. 

Test  Job  Sherman,  Clark. 

Public  gatherings  were  assembled  by  the  beat  of  the  drum 
until  the  year  1745,  when  a  bell  was  purchased  and  hung  in 
the  meeting  house  to  be  used  on  all  public  occasions.  The 
first  house  built  in  which  to  hold  the  Church  of  England 
services  was  on  the  plain  south  of  Newtown  village  and 
was  erected  in  1732. 

In  1746  the  town  voted  that  they  might  build  a  house  in 
which  to  worship,  on  the  highway  25  rods  south  of  the 
Presbyterian  meeting  house.  That  location  was  nearly 
opposite  the  Newtown  Inn.  In  1790  the  town  gave  liberty 
by  vote  in  town  meeting  for  the  Church  of  England  people 
to  put  a  new  church  on  the  plot  where  Trinity  church  now 
stands. 


—75— 

A  Sandemanian  society  was  organized  in  1740.  The 
building  in  which  to  hold  their  services  stood  midway  be- 
tween Mrs.  Marcus  Hawley's  and  the  Middle  district  school 
house.  The  society  disbanded  in  the  early  years  of  the  last 
century. 

The  Sandemanians  were  the  followers  of  one  Robert 
Sandeman  of  New  Haven  Colony  and  were  looked  upon 
with  mistrust,  so  much  so,  that  the  General  Court  of  Con- 
necticut at  its  October  session,  1777,  passed  a  "Bill  granting 
Liberty  to  Sandemanian  Disciples  to  abide  in  the  State 
upon  Parol,  or  depart  with  their  Families."  The  preamble 
reads — 

"Whereas  it  appears  to  this  Assembly  that  Daniel  Humphreys, 
Titus  Smith,  Richard  Woodhul,  Thomas  Goold,  Joseph  Pyncheon, 
Theophilus  Chamberlain  Benjamin  Smith  and  William  Richmond 
disciples  of  the  late  Robert  Sandeman  residing  in  New  Haven  have 
imbibed  the  opinion  that  they  owe  an  allegiance  to  the  king  of  Great 
Britain  and  that  they  are  bound  in  conscience  to  yield  obedience  to 
his  authority,  and  have  signified  their  desire  if  they  may  not  continue 
at  New  Haven  to  remove  to  some  place  under  the  dominion  of  said 
King- 
Resolved  by  this  Assembly — That  the  said  persons  and  each  of 
them  may  be  at  liberty  to  continue  in  this  State  upon  giving  their 
parole  of  honor  that  they  will  not  do  anything  injurious  to  this 
State  or  the  United  States  of  America  or  give  any  intelligence,  aid 
or  assistance  to  the  British  officers  or  forces  at  war  with  this  and  the 
other  United  States,  or  if  they  decline  giving  such  parole,  they,  with 
their  families  household  goods  apparel  and  provisions  sufficient  for 
their  passage  may  remove  to  any  place  subject  to  the  government  of 
the  King  of  Great  Britain,  or  to  New  York  now  occupied  by  the 
said  King's  troops." 

Passed  in  the  upper  House   )  Geo.  Willys  Sec. 
Concurred  in  the  lower  House   '    Benja.  Payne  Clerk. 

The  Baptist  church  and  society  took  its  organic  form  in 
1794,  its  numerical  strength  lying  largely  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  town.  The  church  building  was  located  in  Zoar  near 
the  house  now  owned  bv  Charles  Pratt. 


-76- 

Whenever  the  history  of  Xewtown  shall  be  written  the 
ecclesiastical  history  will  form  a  chapter  of  more  than  com- 
mon interest.  The  General  Court  of  the  colony  made  it 
obligatory  upon  all  landed  proprietors  to  raise  a  yearly 
amount  by  tax  levied  upon  all  rateable  property  for  its 
ministers'  support,  and  one  of  the  first  duties  required  when 
a  new  town  was  organized  was  to  provide  a  minister. 
Salaries  paid  ranged  from  100  pounds  down,  but  never  less 
than  50,  which  might  be  paid  in  money,  or  part  in  grain, 
wood,  or  provisions,  the  money  value  of  which  was  fixed 
from  time  to  time  by  the  General  Court.  The  Congre- 
gational order  of  church  government  was  the  approved 
order  of  the  General  Court,  expressed  in  the  Colonial 
Records  as  follows : 

"We  can  doe  no  less  than  still  approve  and  countenance  the  same 
to  be  without  disturbance  until  better  light  in  an  orderly  way  doth 
appear;  but  yet,  forasmuch  as  sundry  persons  of  worth,  prudence 
and  piety  amongst  us  are  otherwise  persuaded  (whose  welfare 
and  peaceable  satisfaction  we  desire  to  accommodate.)  This  Court 
doth  declare  that  all  such  persons  being  also  approved  according 
to  law  as  orthodox  and  sound  in  the  fundamentals  of  Christian 
religion  may  have  allowance  of  their  persuasion  and  profession 
in  church  ways  or  assemblies  without  disturbance." 

Attendance  at  public  worship  was  compulsory,  the  General 
Court  ordering  that 

"if  any  person  shall  prophane  the  Sabbath  by  unnecessary  travel 
or  playing  thereon  in  the  time  of  public  worship,  or  before,  or 
after,  or  shall  keep  out  of  the  meeting  house  during  the  public 
worship  unnecessarily,  there  being  convenient  room  in  the  house, 
he  shall  pay  five  shillings  for  every  such  offense  or  sit  in  the  stocks 
one  hour." 

It  was  also  provided  that  if  there  was  more  than  one 
religious  assembly  in  a  town  all  persons  should  contribute 
to  one  or  both  of  the  societies  in  the  township. 


—77— 

At  the  annual  town  meeting  held  December  24,  1733,  it 
was  voted — 

"Whereas  the  Worshipfull  Mr  Thomas  Toucey  and  ye  Reverend 
Mr  Elisha  Kent  have  petitioned  for  Liberty  to  build  upon  their  own 
Charge  each  of  them  a  pew  in  ye  meeting  house  in  Newtown  for  ye 
use  of  themselves  and  families  as  they  shall  have  occasion,  the  one 
on  ye  one  side  of  ye  Great  or  South  Door,  and  ye  other  on  ye  other 
side  thereof,  at  ye  above  said  meeting  voted  in  ye  Affirmative  that 
their  petition  Be  Granted,  and  it  is  hereby  Granted. 

Entered  ye  date  above 

Per  Joseph  Peck 

Town  Clerk 

The  first  meeting  house  was  put  to  use  before  being  com- 
pleted, and  in  1745  after  having  been  in  use  for  about 
twenty  years  was  made  more  comfortable  by  an  expenditure 
of  two  hundred  and  twenty  pounds,  some  glass  windows 
were  put  in,  a  bell  was  procured  and  hung,  thus  dispensing 
with  the  drum  that  had  been  used  up  to  that  time,  to  call 
the  people  together  on  all  public  occasions,  or  in  case  of  an 
alarm  being  sounded. 

With  no  way  of  heating  the  building  in  cold  weather 
unless  with  open  fireplace  it  was  an  uncongenial  place  either 
as  a  place  of  worship  or  social  converse  at  the  luncheon 
hour.  It  was  the  uncomfortableness  of  the  first  meeting 
houses  that  made  necessary  the  putting  up  of  what  are  called 
in  the  town  records  "Sabbath  Day  houses." 

Cothren  in  his  history  of  Ancient  Woodbury  says, 

"the  Sabbath  Day  house  was  a  place  in  which  to  take  refreshments 
between  the  two  church  services,  and  for  social  and  religious  worship 
as  the  occupants  might  be  inclined.  It  was  built  in  two  divisions, 
one  for  males  and  the  other  for  females.  Some  families  would  have 
houses  of  their  own  for  private  use.  These  houses  were  necessary 
because  the  meeting  houses  were  not  warmed." 

From  Vol.  I  of  Newtown  Records  we  find  there  were  no 
less  than  seven  Sabbath  Day  houses  on  Newtown  street  in 


-78- 

the  early  days.     They  were  all  located  on  the  highway, 
permission  being  given  by  vote  of  the  freeholders  in  Town 
meeting.     Thinking  it  may  be  of  special  interest  we  give 
a  few  of  the  votes  as  recorded : 
December  9,  1740, 

"voted  and  agreed  that  Jeremiah  Northrop  shall  have  liberty  to  set 
a  small  Sabbath  day  house  In  ye  Lane  by  or  against  Captain  Bald- 
win's orchard." 

Dec.  ye  8  1743— 

"voted  and  agreed  that  Lieutenant  Joseph  Smith  and  Caleb  Baldwin 
Junr.  Shall  have  Liberty  to  Build  a  small  house  for  a  Sabbath  Day 
House  adjoining  with  Jeremiah  Northrop  or  Separate  if  they  see 
cause.  In  such  place  by  Capt.  Baldwins  House  Lot  in  ye  Lane  not 
to  Damnify  sd.  highway." 

December  3,  1750, 

"voted  that  Jonathan  Sanford  shall  have  Liberty  to  Build  a  small 
Sabbath  Day  house  at  ye  westerly  end  of  John  Plat's  Sabbath  Day 
house." 

December  23,  1751, 

"voted  that  Benjamin  Northrop  shall  have  Liberty  to  Building  a 
Sabbath  Day  house  for  his  use  in  ye  Lane  by  Captain  Baldwin's 
fence  of  his  home  Lott  Below  or  something  west  of  Caleb  Baldwin's 
Sabbath  day  house." 

December  3,  1753, 

"voted  that  Matthew  Curtis  shall  have  Liberty  to  erect  or  sett  up  a 
Sabbath  Day  house  in  ye  Cross  Lane  by  Captain  Baldwin's  as  they 
shall  think  best  by  agreement." 

December  30,  1754, 

"voted  that  Captain  Amos  Botsford  shall  have  Liberty  to  Build  a 
small  house  for  Sabbath  Days,  not  Doing  Damage  to  ye  highway  nor 
any  other  person." 


—79— 
December  30  A.  D.  1754 

"voted  in  Town  Meeting  that  all  ye  farmers  Belonging  to  Newtown 
may  have  Liberty  to  set  a  small  house  for  Sabbath  Days  not  Doing 
Damage  to  ye  highways  nor  any  other  person." 

John  Northrop  Town  Clerk 

It  would  be  a  strange  experience  for  us  if,  on  the  morrow, 
we  could  go  into  Newtown  street  and  see  it  as  it  looked  150 
years  ago  at  the  meeting  hour,  the  meeting  house  standing 
near  where  the  liberty  pole  now  stands,  Stephen  Parmaly 
beating  the  drum  to  call  the  people  together,  men  coming  in 
along  the  paths  or  trails  on  horseback  with  wife  on  the 
pillion  behind,  the  children  trudging  along  on  foot  beside 
them,  all  enlisted  in  one  common  cause,  and  each  in 
sympathy  with  the  other,  vanguard  of  the  millions  who  have 
been  following  in  their  wake  since  the  pilgrims  landed  on 
Plymouth  Rock.  Almost  with  holy  reverence  do  we  think 
of  Newtown's  earliest  pioneers. 

In  1739,  28  years  after  the  town's  incorporation,  the 
names  of  143  property  holders  appear  on  the  Grand  List, 
and  the  sum  total  of  taxable  property  expressed  in  dollars 
was  46,445  dollars.  A  poll  went  in  at  90  dollars,  a  pair 
of  oxen  40  dollars,  horses,  of  which  there  were  202, 
Avere  rated  at  15  dollars  each.  A  man's  trade  or  business 
had  an  assessed  valuation,  varying  from  20  to  125  dollars. 
Samuel  Sherman's  trade  was  manufacturing  and  selling 
brooms,  on  which  he  was  assessed  150  dollars.  Widow 
Sarah  Beers  was  assessed  50  dollars  on  her  trade.  This  was 
taxation  without  representation. 

Job  Northrop  was  taxed  on  50  dollars  for  "faculty." 
Jehoshaphat  Pringle  was  taxed  on  40  dollars  for  "faculty," 
and  Widow  Mary  Bennett  was  taxed  on  65  dollars  for 
"faculty."  By  "faculty"  was  meant  superior  wisdom  and 
judgment  above  that  of  their  neighbors.  The  legal  and 
medical  fraternity  were  not  as  numerous  to  consult  with 
as  now. 


Newtown  had  no  representation  at  the  General  Court 
until  1747,  when  Mr.  John  Northrop  and  Capt.  Thomas 
Toucey  were  chosen  to  represent  the  town  at  the  General 
Assembly  in  May  following. 

In  1744  Newtown  was  made  a  part  of  the  Probate  Court 
of  Danbury  and  so  continued  until  1820.  Between  those 
two  dates  all  the  Probate  records  pertaining  to  Newtown 
estates  are  to  be  found  in  the  Probate  Office  at  Danbury. 

Newtown's  first  list  of  polls  and  rateable  estate  returned 
to  the  General  Court  in  1747  was  $56,790.  The  population 
of  the  town  at  that  time  was  noo  souls. 

Rev.  David  Judson,  who  was  minister  in  charge  of  the 
Presbyterian  body  from  1743  to  1777  (at  which  time  he 
died),  has  left  on  record  in  his  own  handwriting  that  in 
1716  there  were  30  families  in  the  town,  in  1740  there 
were  75  families  and  in  1770  the  number  of  families  in 
Newtown  was  350  and  about  one  half  of  them  were  of  the 
Church  of  England.  In  1740  the  rateable  assessment  of  the 
Presbyterians  was  $39,465  and  that  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land men  $8,545  or  about  one-fifth  that  of  the  Presbyterians. 

Newtown's  population  in  1756  was  1253,  of  which  23 
were  slaves.  Slavery  was  in  vogue  here  as  elsewhere  in 
Connecticut  as  late  as  1804  and  we  find  slaves  inventoried 
along  with  other  personal  property  at  valuations  ranging 
from  50  to  250  dollars. 

Rev.  David  Judson,  who  died  in  1777,  left  a  negro  man 
and  woman  valued  at  300  dollars,  a  negro  girl,  Temperance, 
valued  at  140,  one  Sylvia  100,  and  a  negro  boy  valued  at 
50  dollars.  Rev.  Thomas  Toucey  when  he  died  left  a  wench 
called  Happy,  who  was  inventoried  at  250  dollars. 

Children  born  of  slave  mothers  were  the  property  of  him 
who  owned  the  mother  and  were  so  recorded  in  the  Town 
Records,  from  which  is  copied  the  following : 

Jonathan  Booth's  servant  Dorcas  born,  January  27  1783. 


THE   METHODIST   CHURCH 
SANDY    HOOK 


— 8i— 

We  have  no  means  of  knowing  at  how  early  a  period 
slavery  was  introduced  into  Newtown,  or  whether  the  first 
slaves  were  brought  in  by  their  masters  as  they  moved  from 
other  plantations  or  bought  direct  from  traders  as  they  came 
from  the  coast  of  Africa.  It  seems  safe  to  presume,  that 
as  early  as  1735,  perhaps  earlier,  slaves  were  owned  in  New- 
town,  for  we  find  them  inventoried  in  the  settlement  of 
estates  of  those  who  died  at  that  early  date,  an  able-bodied 
likely  negro  being  apprised  at  50  pounds  money.  There 
are  many  entries  in  our  town  records  between  the  years  1735 
and  1805  of  the  birth,  the  sale  and  the  emancipation  of 
slaves.  These  entries  are  so  sandwiched  in  among  other 
matters  that  it  needs  much  patience  and  time  to  compile  the 
same  for  an  occasion  like  the  present.  As  no  better  idea 
can  be  found  as  to  the  manner  of  procedure  when  negro 
slavery  was  an  institution  under  the  law  in  Newtown,  we 
copy  from  the  records  of  the  birth  of  children  of  slave 
parents,  of  the  buying  and  selling,  and  the  emancipation  of 
slaves. 

There  was  never  any  law  enacted  forbidding  a  man  giv- 
ing his  slave  his  freedom,  but  until  the  year  1777  a  man 
emancipating  his  slave  did  not  free  himself  from  the 
expense  of  caring  for  him,  in  the  event  of  his  becoming 
disabled  in  any  way  or  unable  to  take  care  of  himself. 

In  October,  1777,  the  General  Court  then  being  in  session, 
an  act  called  An  Emancipation  Act  was  passed  by  which  any 
person  owning  slaves  could  call  upon  the  selectmen  of  the 
town  for  liberty  to  free  their  slave  or  slaves.  Then  it 
became  the  duty  of  the  selectmen  to  inquire  into  the  age, 
abilities,  circumstances  and  character  of  such  slave,  and  if 
a  major  part  of  them  were  of  the  opinion  that  it  would  be 
consistent  with  the  real  advantage  of  the  slave,  and  that  he 
would  probably  be  able  to  support  himself,  and  was  also  of 
good  and  peaceable  life  and  conversation,  a  certificate  of 
liberty  would  be  given  for  to  set  free  the  slave,  which  would 


—82— 

discharge  for  ever  after  the  former  owner  or  his  heirs  or 
executors  from  any  charge  or  cost  of  maintaining  or 
supporting  the  slave  set  free. 

Emancipation  certificate  concerning  Dorcas  a  Negro  slave  owned 
by  John  Lott  and  David  Beers. 

Certificate  of  the  Selectmen  of  Newtown. 

Newtown  November  n  1799. 

These  certify  that  we  have  examined  into  the  age  and  health  of 
Dorcas  a  Negro  woman  Slave,  owned  by  John  Lott  &  David  Beers 
Esq.  who  is  desirous  to  be  made  free  and  we  do  find  on  actual 
examination  that  she,  the  said  Dorcas  is  in  good  health  and  is  not  of 
greater  age  than  forty  five  years  &  is  not  less  than  twenty  five  years, 
but  that  she,  the  said  Dorcas  is  about  twenty  nine  years  of  age. 

Certified  by  us  David  Baldwin  -*      j    . 
John  Sanford      >• 
Abijah  Curtis     J 


Know  all  men  by  these  presents  that  we  John  Lott  &  David  Beers 
of  Newtown  Fairfield  County  and  State  of  Connecticut  owners  of 
a  certain  negro  woman  slave  named  Dorcas  aged  about  twenty  nine 
years,  for  divers  good  causes  &  for  considerations  already  received 
to  our  full  satisfaction  have  thought  fit  to  emancipate  &  set  free  the 
said  Dorcas,  and  we  do  by  these  presents  fully,  freely  &  absolutely 
emancipate,  liberate  &  set  free  the  said  Dorcas  and  the  said  Dorcas 
is  hereby  absolutely  set  free  and  discharged  from  our  service  to  all 
intents  &  purposes. 

It  witness  whereof  we  have  hereunto  set  our  hands  &  seals  this 
IIth  day  of  November  1799 

Signed  sealed  &  delivered  in  John  Lott 

presence  of  Abijah  Curtis  David  Beers 

John  Sanford 

On  May  9  1791  Nehemiah  Curtis  emancipated  his  Negro  slave 
Tobias  30  years  old. 

Jan.  6  1794  Captain  Solomon  Glover  emancipated  his  Negro  slave 
Alexander  36  years  old. 

January  1794  Stephen  Crofut  emancipated  his  negro  slave  Candace. 

October  10  1804  Jarvis  Platt  emancipated  his  negro  slave  Gilbert 
29  years  old 


-83- 

Fairfield  County  fs  Newtown  July  30  A.D.  1796.  Whereas  Mr 
Ebenezer  Beers  of  sd  Newtown  has  this  day  made  application  to  us 
the  subscribers  for  liberty  to  Emancipate  and  make  Free  his  Negro 
man  Named  Cesar  otherwise  called  Julius  Cesar  in  manner  and  form 
as  prescribed  by  law  having  examined  the  sd  Negro  who  is  holden  as 
a  slave  we  find  that  he  is  desirous  to  be  made  free  we  have  also 
enquired  into  the  age  and  health  of  the  sd  Julius  Cesar,  and  on  such 
enquiry  find  that  he  is  in  good  health  and  is  not  of  greater  age  than 
forty  five  years  or  less  than  twenty  five  years  of  age. 

Certified  by  William  Edmond 
David  Baldwin 

Authority. 

Know  all  men  by  these  presents 

that  I  Ebenezer  Beers  of  Newtown  County  of  Fairfield  State  of 
Connecticut  being  thereunto  legally  authorized  by  virtue  of  the 
foregoing  certificate  have  Emancipated  and  made  free  the  said  Julius 
Cesar  and  I  do  hereby  make  free,  Emancipate  and  set  at  liberty  the 
sd  Cesar  and  I  do  hereby  for  myself  and  my  heirs  Relinquish  all 
claim  to  the  future  subjection,  obedience  &  service  of  the  said  Cesar 
and  the  avails  thereof  and  the  said  Cesar  is  hereby  fully,  freely  and 
absolutely  acquitted,  Discharged  Emancipated  and  made  free,  as  wit- 
ness my  hand  and  seal  this  3Oth  Day  of  July  A  D — 1796 

Signed  sealed  &  Delivered  Ebenezer  Beers, 

in  presence  of 
William  Edmond 
David  Baldwin. 

May  9th  1796  Daniel  Booth  Emancipated  his  Negro  man  slave 
Zephaniah,  and  his  Negro  Woman  slave  named  Peggy 

On  January  6  1800  Philo  Toucey  emancipated  &  set  free  his  negro 
slave  named  Jacob  25  years  of  age  September  6  1799. 
September  16  1799  Mr  Reuben  Booth  &  David  Booth  executors  of 
the  estate  of  Jonathan  Booth  Emancipated  &  set  free  a  negro  slave 
woman  thirty  seven  years  old  named  Lynde — in  accordance  with  the 
express  will  of  said  deceased. 

"Some  entries  of  the  births  of  the  Children  of  Tobe  Curtis  by  his 
wife  Phillis  the  servant  of  Caleb  Baldwin.  Their  first  born,  a 
Daughter  named  Jenne  born  in  Stratford  on  the  26th  day  of  August 
1782. 

Their  son  named  Joseph  Freedom  born  in  Newtown  on  the  27th 
day  of  October  A.  D.  1784.  The  sd  Joseph  Freedom  Departed  this 
life  on  the  6th  day  of  May  1790." 


— 84— 

"Elexander  Brisco  — Negro — and  Peggy  Joyned  in  marriage  by  the 
Revnd.  Mr  Rex  ford. 
Their  first  born  named  Succa 
Their  second  named  Nancy 
Their  third  named  Linda" 

***** 

"The  birth  and  Age  of  the  negro  children  of  Daniel  Glover. 
Gene  was  born  October  7th  A  D  1787  \ 
Peter  was  born  January  30  A  D  1788  >  Daniel  Glover. 
Rose  was  born  December  A  D  1790      ) 

Fairfield  County  fs  Newtown  the  20th  Day  of  February  Anno  1791 
personally  appe'ared  Mr.  Daniel  Glover  &  on  oath  declared  that  the 
above  named  viz.  Gene,  Peter  &  Rose  were  the  names  of  three  Negro 
Children  born  in  his  house  of  a  Negro  wench  belonging  to  him 
Named  Nancy  &  that  the  above  dates  were  the  times  severally  of 
their  births  sworn  &c  before 

John  Chandler  Assistant  Clerk." 

"Benjamin  Hawley's  negro  child  Ned,  was  born  October  the  6th 
Day  1788.  Fairfield  County  fs  Newtown  on  the  21st  day  of  March 
1791  personally  appeared  Mr  Benjamin  Hawley  &  on  oath  Declared 
that  the  above  was  a  true  account  of  the  birth  of  a  negro  male  child 
which  belonged  to  him  by  the  name  of  Ned  sworn  &c  before  John 
Chandler  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

Received  to  Record  21st  of  March  1791.  Recorder  per.  me  Caleb 
Baldwin  Town  Clerk." 

Newtown  March  24  1787. 

"Received  of  Lemuel  Sherman  and  his  wife  Mary  Sherman  ten 
pounds  lawful  money  for  which  I  quit  claim  my  Right  and  title 
during  his  natural  life,  and  in  confirmation  I  have  set  my  hand  and 
in  a  certain  Negro  Boy  named  Ned,  to  them  to  have  and  to  hold 
seal  in  presence  of  Andrew  Fairchild  and  Prudence  Fairchild." 

Ransford  Fairchild. 

Bill  of  sale  of  Jime,  Black  Servant  of  Wd  Sarah  Nichols  Reed,  to 
record  Ist  of  March  1804.  Recorded  for  me  Caleb  Baldwin  Town 
Clerk.  To  all  people  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  greeting. 
Know  ye  that  I.  Wd  Sarah  Nichols  of  Newtown  in  Fairfield  County, 
for  the  consideration  of  fifty  dollars  received  in  hand  of  Titus  a 
free  negro  of  the  Town  of  Fairfield  to  my  full  satisfaction  and 
Content,  have  granted,  bargained  and  sold,  and  by  these  presents  do 


j 


-85- 

grant,  bargain,  sell  and  convey  unto  Titus  free  Negro  his  executors, 
administrators  &  assigns  one  certain  Negro  girl  named  Jime  aged 
about  thirty  one  years  to  have  and  to  hold  said  Negro  girl,  to  him 
the  said  Titus  a  Free  Negro  his  executors  and  assigns  for  and  during 
the  natural  life  of  the  said  Negro  Girl,  &  furthermore  I,  the  said 
Sarah  Nichols  do  for  myself  &  heirs  warrant  the  said  Negro  girl  to 
him  the  said  Titus  a  Free  Negro  against  all  just  claims  and  demands 
whatsoever. 

In  witness  whereof  I  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  seal  this  Ist  Day 
of  March  AD  1804. 

Sarah  Nichols  Wd  . 

Witnesses —  [L  s] 

Joseph  Nichols 
Charles  Prince. 

Concerning  width  of  highways  in  and  near  the  town  street 
it  was  voted  at  a  proprietors  meeting  held  February  2  1758, 

"that  the  highways  are  to  be  in  width  as  follows  (viz)  the  town 
street  is  to  be  Eight  Rods  wide  from  Ebenezer  Bristols  Dwelling 
house  to  y6  Dwelling  house  of  Lieu*  Heth  Pecks,  and  ye  highways 
on  each  side  of  ye  land  Called  the  Ram  pasture,  to  be  six  rods 
wide,  and  the  highways  that  Leads  from  the  meeting  house  to  Gideon 
Baldwin's  meadow  East  of  his  house,  to  be  six  rods  wide,  and  all 
other  places  that  are  for  Countery  Roads  to  Be  left  six  rods  wide, 
and  in  all  other  places  within  two  mild  from  ye  meeting  house  to  be 
four  Rod  in  width— except  private  highways  or  highways  not  to  be 
much  used  to  be  Left  two  Rods  wide." 

Test  John  Northrop  Clerk." 

Cattle,  horses,  sheep,  geese  and  swine  were  allowed  to 
run  at  large  in  the  early  days — though  under  certain  restric- 
tions— as  for  instance  on  December  19,  1717  it  was  voted  in 
lawful  town  meeting 

That  the  Swine  belonging  to  ye  Inhabitants  of  Newtown  Shall  be 
free  Commoners  so  long  as  they  Do  no  Damage  and  ye  owners  of  ye 
Swine  to  pay  Damage  whare  ye  fence  is  good  and  according  to  Law 
&  whare  y6  fence  is  not  good  ye  Owners  of  Such  fences  are  not  to 
Recover  any  Damage  or  Poundage  and  if  such  Swine  are  not  Sofi- 
ciantly  Yoacked  after  ye  first  time  they  Do  Damage  then  ye  Owners 
to  pay  all  Damages  after  y6  first  Time  they  Do  Damge.  by  Soffi- 


cient  yoking  to  be  understood  a  yoke  9  Inches  above  ye  neck,  4 
Inches  below  ye  neck  6  inches  long  on  each  side  ye  neck  if  on  grown 
Swine  and  proportionably  for  Lesser.  Swine  so  Yoaked  not  to  be 
Deamed  Damage  feazant.  This  act  to  continue  for  two  years. 

The  raising  of  sheep  was  one  of  Newtown's  earliest 
industries,  the  town  owning  the  flocks,  which  were  kept  on 
the  common  lands,  a  shepherd  being  employed  to  care  for 
them,  and  the  profits  divided  among  the  proprietaries.  The 
first  recorded  vote  we  find  is  under  the  date  1747,  when 

"It  was  voted — that  the  town  of  Newtown  from  time  to  time,  from 
year  to  year  and  forever  shall  take  effectual  care  and  see  that  all  the 
Incombs  of  ye  flock  of  sheep  in  and  beloning  to  said  town  over  & 
above  ye  Shepard's  wages  and  insident  charges  of  y6  flock  shall  be 
paid  to  ye  above  sd  proprietors  of  land  in  sd  Newtown  and  be  divided 
among  them  according  to  their  several  proprietaries 

Test  Job  Sherman,  Clerk." 

Again  at  a  meeting  held  January  ye  I5th  1754  it  was  voted 

"that  all  of  the  undivided  Land  within  ye  sequesterment  so  called 
within  one  mild  of  ye  town  street  east  and  west,  north  and  south, 
(it  is  to  be  understood  that  ye  town  street  is  to  extend  from  Mr 
John  Blackmail's  house  to  Ebenezer's  Smith  shop,)  shall  Lay  as 
commons  for  ye  use  and  Benefit  of  ye  Inhabitants  of  y6  town  of 
Newtown  for  Keeping  a  flock  of  Sheep  till  y6  Proprietors  shall 
agree  otherwise  =  and  the  Earnings  or  Incumbs  of  the  flock  of  sheep 
over  and  above  what  will  be  y6  hier  of  a  Sefisant  Shepard  to  keep 
ye  flock  and  all  other  necessary  charges  about  ye  flock  shall  return 
to  y6  proprietors  of  y6  Land  and  to  be  Dewided  to  each  proprietor 
according  to  their  Right  in  propriete  = 

Test  John  Northrop,  Clerk." 

At  a  Proprietors  meeting  held  February  13,  1758,  it  was 

"voted  to  lay  out  another  tract  of  common  land  without  ye  two  miles 
from  y6  meeting  house,  each  right  to  be  drawn  for  as  heretofore, 
and  also  power  was  given  the  Committee  appointed  for  that  purpose, 
to  lay  out  highways  where  most  needful,  with  full  power  to  make 
recompense  out  of  proprietors'  land  without  the  two  miles  from  the 
meeting  house  to  the  several  persons  who  might  be  aggrieved  by  the 
laying  out  of  said  highways  on  or  through  their  land." 


I  I 


i  i 


-87- 

The  records  show  that  the  proprietors,  on  sober  second 
thought,  decided  they  could  not  meet  the  expense  of  addi- 
tional highways  and  had  better  let  the  land  be  used  for  a 
sheep  pasture  for  a  while  longer.  The  drawing  for  the 
several  pitches  was  to  be  made  April  i,  1758,  but  at  an 
adjourned  meeting  held  March  20,  1758,  the  following 
Preamble  was  introduced — 

"Whereas  at  ye  first  Convention  of  this  meeting  February  13 
1758  it  was  voted  to  lay  out  to  each  proprietor  or  Right, 
one  acre  of  land  in  what  is  called  y6  Commons  within  ye  Compass 
of  two  miles  from  ye  meeting  house  and  accordingly  a  Draught 
made,  and  Committee  chosen  and  ye  time  set  to  Begin  ye  Laying 
out  (viz)  on  ye  first  of  April  next,  and  whereas  ye  present  state  of 
Public  afairs  in  y6  Kingdom  throws  y6  British  settlements  particu- 
larly in  this  part  of  American  world  into  Gratest  Confusion  and 
Involves  in  ye  Gratest  Difficualties  in  which  we  are  Grate  Sherors, 
which  undoubtedly  in  point  of  Duty  calls  for  such  Indifferancy  of 
spirite  towards  ye  things  of  this  world  which  is  Inconsistent  with 
Grasping  and  reaching  after  ye  same  any  further  than  strict  necessity 
obliges  thereunto  and  Besides  Least  when  under  a  burthen  next  to 
Insupportable  by  ye  addition  of  a  small  weight  ye  Bearer  Should 
inadwertently  be  Depressed  so  as  to  be  sunk  Bneath  ye  Superficies 
of  this  terrestrial  Globe  and  such  as  ye  addition  att  this  Day  of  any 
unnecessary  Charge  which  at  another  time  (viz.)  y6  sunshine  of 
prosperity  might  well  be  Deemed  prudent,  necessary  and  Light. 
This  Being  supposed  to  be  ye  Case,  with  Respect  to  ye  present 
speedy  Laying  out  sd  acre  and  whereas  y6  sudden  or  speedy  Laying 
out  sd  Acre  Dewission  and  bringing  ye  same  into  and  under  par- 
ticular Improvement  must  unavoidably  put  ye  Biger  part  of  y6  people 
and  Inhabitants  of  this  Town  into  a  surprise  by  Laying  them  under 
a  Grate  Disadvantage  in  not  Giving  of  them  time  to  turn  themselves 
in  making  sutable  prowission  in  their  Inclosures,  each  to  keep  his 
own  flock. 

It  is  therefore  agreed  and  voted  upon  ye  view  and  Reasons  above 
mentioned  that  y6  above  said  Dewision  of  one  acre  shall  Remain  as 
at  present  it  is  unlaid  out  for  ye  space  of  two  years  from  this  Date 
and  that  when  it  shall  be  Laid  out  att  ye  expiration  of  sd  two  years 
and  not  before  It  shall  Lye  two  years  more  making  from  this  Date 
four  years  open  without  enclosure  particular  or  otherwise,  always 
provided  that  y6  proprietors  in  or  of  common  Land  be  not,  by  any 

7 


—88— 

Dewices  of  ye  owners  of  ye  flock,  as  by  hireing  Shepards  on  or  for 
y6  same  or  otherwise  be  Defrauded  of  their  just  Incombs  from  y* 
flock  Pursuant  to  a  vote  not  Long  since  passed  by  y8  proprietors  of 
ye  Sheep  in  Newtown  but  that  y6  said  wote  During  sd  four  years  be 
honestly  and  faithfully  put  in  Execution  according  to  y6  true  Intent 
thereof. 

Provided  also  that  Effectual  Care  be  taken  by  y6  proprietors  of  ye 
sheep  that  y6  flock  be  not  Laid  upon  what  is  called  foul  meadow 
unless  it  be  y6  Dryer  sort  thereof  and  in  very  Dry  season." 
Voted  in  ye  Affirmative 

Test  John  Northrop  Clark. 

In  the  early  days  the  people  were  by  force  of  circum- 
stances obliged  to  depend  upon  themselves  in  meeting  sick- 
ness, accident,  distress  or  destitution.  The  minister  not  only 
was  expected  to  attend  to  their  spiritual  needs,  but  was 
medical  and  legal  adviser  as  well.  Drug  stores  were  a  thing 
unknown.  The  rafters  under  the  long  low  slanting  roofs 
were  adorned  with  bunches  of  herbs  drying  for  winter  use, 
to  be  resorted  to  for  all  conceivable  diseases  and  accidents 
that  flesh  is  heir  to — hard  hack,  boneset,  tansy,  dock  root, 
live-for-ever,  cumfrey  root,  without  stint  or  measure. 
Among  the  old  headstones  in  the  Newtown  Cemetery  is  one 
with  this  inscription. 

Sacred  to  the  Memory 

of  Mr  Lemuel  Thomas 

for  many  Years  a  skillful 

&  useful  practitioner  of 

Surgery  and  Physic. 

Who  Departed  this 

Life  Septem.  30  A.  D. 

1775  ^Etat  48. 

Undoubtedly  the  earliest  practitioner  of  surgery  and  physics 
the  town  ever  had.  He  had  his  house  on  the  highway,  west 
side  of  the  road,  midway  between  the  Middle  District  school 
house  and  the  corner.  He  was  married  by  the  Rev.  David 
Judson,  September  I5th,  1756,  to  Mary  Foot.  Their  chil- 


-89- 

dren  were,  Lucy,  born  July  17,  1757 ;  James,  born  January 
29,  1759 ;  Lemuel,  born  December  2,  1760,  and  Anna,  born 
January  5,  1767.  Born  in  1727  and  commencing  practice 
before  he  was  thirty  years  of  age,  we  can  see  how  strong 
a  hold  he  had  upon  the  people  of  the  community  by  the 
following  vote  taken. 
At  a  Proprietors  meeting  held  March  16,  1757, 

"voted  and  agreed  by  ye  majority  of  ye  proprietors  present,  that 
Doctor  Lemuel  Thomas  may  have  Liberty  to  take  up  two  acres  & 
a  half  of  Land  in  ye  Town  Street  for  a  horse  pastuer  Between 
ye  School  house  at  ye  South  end  of  ye  town  and  Mr  John  Fabreques 
Dwelling  House  Leaving  a  8  rod  highway  on  y6  east  side  thereof, 
and  sd  Doctor  Thomas  shall  possess  sd  two  acres  and  a  half  of  Land 
and  Improve  ye  same  as  Long  as  he  shall  Continue  in  this  town 
and  practising  Doctering  among  us,  and  if  he  should  lay  aside 
Doctering  as  aforesaid  or  Remove  out  of  sd  Town  y6  sd  Land  to 
Return  to  ye  proprietors  again,  he  taking  away  his  fence." 

voted  in  ye  affirmative  Test  John  Northrop  Clark. 

"voted  that  Capt.  Henry  Glover,  Mr  Benjamin  Curtiss,  &  Mr  Abel 
Booth  is  chosen  a  Committee  In  behalf  of  ye  proprietors  to  Give 
Doctor  Lemuel  Thomas  a  Lease  of  ye  Land  he  had  Liberty  to  take 
up  as  appears  by  ye  act  of  y6  proprietors  made  March  i6th  1757. 
voted  and  agreed  that  Capt.  John  Glover,  Lieut.  Thomas  Skidmore 
&  Mr  Abel  Booth  Shall  Be  &  be  hereby  chosen  a  Committee  In  Behalf 
of  y6  proprietors  to  examin  &  search  in  to  y6  state  of  ye  Land  by 
y6  Grate  River  not  Included  in  Quiump  purchase  and  to  purchase 
said  Land  of  y6  Indians  if  they  Can  for  ye  proprietors." 

In  December,  1776,  the  town  voted  that  a  town  house,  32 
feet  long,  24  feet  wide  and  9  feet  between  joints  should 
be  built.  Oliver  Toucey  took  the  job  for  300  dollars.  He 
was  to  make  in  it  as  good  seats  as  are  generally  made  in 
form  as  in  the  State  House  in  Hartford.  He  should  light 
the  house  with  30  windows,  15  squares  of  glass  in  a 
window,  size  of  glass  to  be  7  x  9.  The  building  was  located 
on  the  same  site  as  where  the  first  one  stood. 

To  those  who  are  familiar  with  Longfellow's  poem, 
"Evangeline,"  it  may  be  interesting  to  know  that  Newtown 


was  obliged  to  care  for  one  family  from  Grand  Pre  from 
1756  to  1762. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  first  Roman  Catholics 
who  came  into  Newtown  came  in  1756,  not  from  choice, 
but  from  compulsion. 

When  France  ceded  Acadia,  now  Nova  Scotia,  to  the 
English  the  Acadians  chose  to  remain,  though  they  had  free 
choice  to  leave  any  time  within  two  years.  They  refused  to 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  British  king,  though  they 
did  take  the  oath  of  fidelity.  They  were  exempted  from 
bearing  arms  against  their  countrymen  in  Canada,  and 
allowed  to  enjoy  their  own  religion,  which  was  Roman 
Catholic. 

The  British  government  finally  decided  to  remove  the 
Acadians,  confiscate  their  property  and  scatter  them  among 
their  colonies  on  the  Continent,  and  300  were  assigned  to 
the  Connecticut  Colony  and  were  landed  at  New  London 
in  1756.  The  General  Court  at  its  January  session  in  1756 
in  New  Haven  passed  an  act  for  distributing  and  well 
ordering  the  French  people  sent  into  the  colony  from  Nova 
Scotia.  Four  were  assigned  to  Newtown.  They  were 
known  as  the  neutral  French  and  were  cared  for  at  the 
town's  expense.  Every  year  for  six  years  their  records 
show  resolutions  that  were  passed  for  the  care  of  the  French 
family  called  neutrals.  The  town  built  them  a  house  and 
provided  for  all  their  needs.  It  could  not  turn  them  off, 
nor  could  they  go  out  of  the  town  without  its  consent. 
The  boy  of  the  family  was  finally  bound  out  for  a  term  of 
years  to  Zadock  Sherman,  and  the  man  Paul  and  his  wife 
were  allowed  by  vote  (of  the  town)  to  go  visiting  their 
friends,  relations  or  acquaintances.  As  the  town  could 
not  turn  them  adrift,  they  voted  to  allow  them  to  go  visiting, 
as  shrewd  diplomacy  as  any  of  the  present  day. 

During  the  Revolutionary  war  Newtown  was  free  from 
any  and  all  raids  of  the  enemy.  A  large  percentage  of  the 


ST.   ROSE  S   CHURCH. 


population  was  in  complete  sympathy  with  the  mother 
country,  so  much  so  that  they  were  tones  in  name  and  deed, 
and  in  some  cases  their  property  was  confiscated  and 
reverted  to  the  colony,  the  Probate  records  showing  in- 
stances to  the  point.  One  man,  Robert  Thompson,  of  New- 
town  was  hanged  in  June,  1777,  as  a  spy,  the  order  of  his 
execution  being  given  by  Brig.  Gen.  Samuel  H.  Parsons,  and 
returns  were  made  that  the  execution  had  been  duly  per- 
formed. 

All  through  the  war  period  our  town  records  abound  with 
doings  of  frequent  town  meetings  when  provision  was  made 
for  meeting  the  conditions  called  for  by  the  colony  in  raising 
the  town's  quota  of  men  and  its  proportion  of  food  products 
for  the  forces  in  the  field,  .and  providing  for  families  of 
soldiers  enlisted  in  the  service  from  Newtown.  In  the  state 
archives  we  find  among  the  names  of  Newtown's  honor  roll, 
John  Chandler,  Colonel  of  the  8th  Regiment,  formed  in 
1777,  afterward  Superintendent  of  the  Conn.  Line,  and 
after  the  war  Brigadier  General  of  the  state  militia.  Col. 
Chandler  of  the  8th  Regiment  was  in  the  battles  of  Long 
Island  and  White  Plains. 

In  the  8th  Company,  Fifth  Regiment,  we  find  the  names 
Joseph  Smith,  Captain,  Jabez  Botsford,  Lieutenant,  enlisted 
in  1775,  and  Ephraim  Kimberly  ist  Lieutenant. 

In  Sheldon's  Dragoons  we  find  the  names  of  William 
Whitby  and  Ezekiel  Bennett,  each  enlisted  for  three  years 
from  March  1781.  Capt.  Ephraim  Kimberly  in  the 
Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  Fitch  Kimberly  in  the  Regi- 
ment of  Artificers,  enlisted  for  three  years,  and  Thomas 
Brooks  enlisted  in  1777  for  the  war. 

In  the  1 6th  Regiment  of  the  Conn.  Militia  was  Capt. 
Caleb  Baldwin,  promoted  to  Major  in  1778,  and  Samuel 
Brooks,  who  served  in  Col.  Lamb's  artillery  from  April 
1777  to  1781. 


—92— 

At  a  town  meeting  held  in  February,  1778,  it  was  voted 

"that  the  salt  belonging  to  this  Town  purchased  by  the  State  shall 
be  transported  from  Bedford  in  Boston  state  to  this  place  at  the 
expense  of  the  town,  and  that  in  a  manner  that  the  selectmen  shall 
think  most  expedient  and  safe,  either  by  land  or  water." 

Also  voted 

"that  the  selectmen  shall  take  care  of  the  pig  iron  allowed  to  this 
Town  by  the  state  that  it  is  forwarded  in  the  best  manner  to  the 
most  convenient  forge,  and  procure  the  same  wrought  into  bar  iron 
and  then  brought  into  the  town  at  the  town's  expense  and  divide 
the  same  to  the  inhabitants  according  to  the  list  in  the  several  school 
districts." 

In  January,  1778,  at  a  meeting  called  to  consider  upon, 
and  if  agreeable  to  their  minds,  to  assent  to  the  Articles  of 
Confederation  drawn  up  and  sent  by  Congress  to  the 
several  states  agreeable  to  a  requisition  of  His  Excellency 
the  Governor,  it  was  voted, 

"Having  particularly  considered  every  article  by  itself  we  unani- 
mously approve  of  every  article  of  confederation  as  sent  by  Congress 
to  the  several  states.  Resolved  that  the  Representatives  of  this  town 
transmitt  the  votes  of  this  meeting  to  the  Gen.  Assembly  of  this 
state  approving  of  every  article  of  Confederation  of  the  United 
States  in  Congress  as  the  sense  of  this  town  that  the  Delegates  of 
this  state  be  improwered  by  said  Assembly  to  Ratify  and  confirm 
the  same  in  Congress." 

Maj.  Caleb  Baldwin,  Capt.  Joseph  Smith  and  Henry  Peck 
were  Newtown's  representatives  to  the  General  Assembly 
for  that  year. 
In  July  1779  the  town  voted 

"that  the  Committee  appointed  for  supplying  the  officers  and 
soldiers'  families  now  in  Continental  service  agreeable  to  a  resolve 
of  the  General  Assembly  May  1779  make  and  adjust  each  man's 
proportion  (obliged  by  law  to  pay  rates  in  Newtown)  of  the  sum 
of  108  pounds  and  that  they  call  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
to  return  to  them  immediately  or  at  a  convenient  season  said  dividend 


—93— 

for  the  use  of  said  families.  Also  voted  that  this  meeting  has  no 
objection  to  the  wives  and  families  of  Ephraim  Betts  and  Elias 
Skidmore  repairing  to  Long  Island  there  to  tarry  with  their  husbands 
going  under  the  direction  and  Authority  of  the  Selectmen." 

Some  insubordination  existed  in  Xewtown  in  1778,  as  is 
shown  by  this  act  passed  by  the  General  Assembly. 

"Upon  a  representation  made  to  this  Assembly  that  the  three  alarm 
list  companies  formed  within  the  limits  of  the  first  society  of  New- 
town  in  the  i6th  regiment  having  sometime  since  made  choice  of 
persons  for  their  officers  inimical  to  this  and  the  other  United  States 
of  America,  who  for  that  reason  were  refused  commissions,  and  also 
that  the  officers  of  the  third  military  company  of  said  regiment  in 
said  town  have  either  given  in  their  commissions  or  wholly  neglect 
and  refuse  to  execute  their  offices  whereby  all  the  said  companies 
are  destitute  of  officers  and  by  that  means  not  in  a  condition  to  be 
called  upon  to  perform  military  duty  for  the  defence  of  the  country. 
Resolved  by  this  Assembly  that  the  colonel  or  chief  officer  of  said 
regiment  be  directed  and  he  is  hereby  ordered  and  directed  to  cause 
legal  warning  to  be  given  said  companies  as  soon  as  may  be,  to  meet 
for  the  purpose  of  choosing  commission  officers  and  lead  or  order 
them  to  be  led  to  such  choice  for  their  respective  companies,  and  in 
case  they  neglect  or  refuse  to  elect  such  persons  as  are  qualified 
according  to  the  laws  of  this  state  to  execute  such  offices  that  then  the 
civil  authority  in,  and  selectmen  of  Newtown,  with  the  advice  of  said 
colonel  or  chief  officer  are  hereby  impowered  and  directed  forthwith 
to  nominate  such  officers  as  may  be  necessary,  which  choice  or  nomi- 
nation shall  by  said  colonel  or  chief  officer  be  returned  to  this 
Assembly  or  in  the  recess  thereof  to  his  Excellency  the  Governor, 
who  is  desired  to  commissionate  them  accordingly;  which  officers 
shall  immediately  proceed  to  detach  their  quota  of  men  for 
the  Continental  army  as  soon  as  the  field  officers  of  said  regiment 
have  proportioned  them  to  the  respective  companies,  which  they 
are  hereby  directed  to  do." 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Governor  and  Council  of  Safety  at 
Hartford  in  October,  1779,  it  was  resolved 

"That  the  selectmen  of  the  town  of  Newtown  receive  from  Joseph 
Hopkin,  Esq.,  of  Waterbury  ten  fire  arms  belonging  to  this  state, 
150  pounds  of  gun  powder  from  the  keeper  of  powder  belonging  to 


—94— 

this  state  in  Ripton,  and  also  300  flints  of  Capt  George  Smith  of 
Hartford,  they  passing  their  receipt  therefore,  said  selectmen  to  be 
accountable." 

"Per  order  of  Major  Caleb  Baldwin,  Also  upon  the  memorial  of 
Samuel  Hazzard  a  refugee  from  the  city  of  New  York  now  resident 
in  town  of  Newtown  showing  that  when  he  left  New  York,  he  left 
with  some  of  his  friends  on  Long  Island  considerable  effects  belong- 
ing to  himself  and  family,  and  praying  to  have  liberty  to  go  on  to 
said  island  and  bring  off  his  said  effects.  Resolved  that  the  said 
Samuel  Hazzard  have  liberty  and  liberty  is  hereby  granted  to  him 
to  go  on  to  Long  Island  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  away  said 
effects,  he  conforming  himself  to  the  directions  of  Thaddeus  Betts, 
Esqr.,  of  Norwalk,  under  whose  care  and  inspection  he  is  to  conduct 
in  the  affair. 

Permit  of  Col  Chandler." 

At  a  town  meeting  held  in  December,  1779,  it  was  voted 
concerning  unfriendly  persons  taking  the  oath  of  fidelity, 

"that  the  selectmen  for  the  time  being,  lay  before  the  next  General 
Assembly  of  the  state  of  Connecticut  either  by  memorial  or  some 
other  manner,  the  circumstances  and  true  situation  of  this  town  in 
regard  to  those  unfriendly  persons  in  said  town  together  with  the 
reasons  of  the  friends  to  the  libertys  of  America  in  this  town  casting 
their  protest  against  the  Town  Clerk  entering  those  unfriendly  per- 
sons names  in  the  list  of  those  that  have  taken  the  oath  of  fidelity." 

In  1780 

"voted  that  Abraham  Bennett  shall  be  committee  to  supply  the  family 
of  Lieut  Ephraim  Kimberly  the  year  ensuing  as  a  soldier  in  the 
Continental  service;  also  that  Lieut  Amos  Terrill  be  committee  to 
supply  the  family  of  Elijah  Foote  a  soldier  in  the  Continental  ser- 
vice; also  Eli  Dunning  be  committee  for  the  purpose  of  putting  up 
flour  in  this  town  for  continental  use,  and  that  Capt  Jabez  Botsford 
shall  be  committee  for  the  purpose  of  providing  barrels  and  putting 
up  the  beef  and  pork  required  by  law  for  continental  use.  Voted 
that  David  Botsford  shall  be  committee  of  cloathing  for  the  Con- 
tinental soldiers.  In  1781  voted,  in  order  to  raise  the  eight  men 
required  for  the  year's  service  to  defend  the  Post  at  Horseneck  we 
proceed  in  the  same  manner  as  is  directed  for  the  continental 
soldiers." 


—95— 

Enough  has  been  quoted  from  records  to  show  that  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town  were  kept  busy  in  meeting  the  state's 
demand  for  men  and  means  to  help  prosecute  the  war,  and 
although  there  was  a  marked  sentiment  of  disloyalty  in  the 
community,  yet  as  a  town,  Newtown  did  her  full  share  with- 
out drafting  during  the  Revolutionary  period  and  some  of 
its  foremost  men  have  their  names  on  Connecticut's  honor 
roll;  as  Col.  John  Chandler,  8th  Regiment,  Hon.  William 
Edmond,  who  was  in  the  fight  at  Ridgefield  when  Col. 
Wooster  was  killed,  and  received  a  bullet  wound  that  lamed 
him  for  life ;  Lieutenant  Jabez  Botsford,  Lieutenant  Eph- 
raim  Kimberly,  and  Captain  Caleb  Baldwin  promoted  to 
major.  The  military  records  of  the  state  show  that  as  late 
as  the  year  1800  there  were  eight  Revolutionary  pensioners 
living  in  Newtown:  Mary  Botsford  aged  82,  Abigail 
Davis  78,  Jerusha  Crittenden  80,  Sarah  Colburn  77,  Kellog 
Berry  77,  and  Eunice  Taylor  82  years  of  age. 

In  1774  Newtown's  population  was  2229;  1782,  2404; 
1790,  2764;  1800,  2903. 

Newtown  had  no  representation  at  the  General  Court  in 
1776.  The  Public  Records  of  the  state  of  Connecticut,  in 
the  list  of  names  of  representatives  from  the  several  towns, 
has  the  name  Newtown  with  a  blank  before  it. 

History  does  not  tell  us  whether  there  was  no  election,  or 
whether,  if  so,  those  elected  refused  to  take  the  oath  of 
office. 

The  assembly  met  in  October.  It  was  a  solemn  as  well 
as  a  serious  time.  Questions  of  great  import  were  likely  to 
come  up,  that  would  call  for  drastic  action.  On  the  pre- 
vious fourth  of  July  the  Declaration  of  Independence  had 
been  signed. 

The  first  resolution  passed  by  the  assembly  when  they 
met  in  New  Haven  in  October  following  was — 

"That  we  approve  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  published  by 
said  Congress,  and  that  this  Colony  is  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  a 


free  and  Independent  state,  and  the  inhabitants  thereof,  are  absolved 
from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  and  all  political  connections 
between  them  and  the  king  t>f  Great  Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be 
totally  dissolved." 

At  this  same  session  an  act  was  passed  for  prescribing  and 
enjoining  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  state,  and  in  order  that  we 
may  fully  understand  what  the  act  meant  in  its  entirety,  we 
give  in  full  the  prelude  and  the  law  as  enacted  by  the  Gen- 
eral Court. 

"Whereas  the  King  of  Great  Britain  hath  abdicated  the  govern- 
ment of  this  and  the  other  United  States  of  America  by  putting 
them  out  of  his  protection,  and  unjustly  levying  war  against  them, 
and  the  said  United  States  by  their  representatives  in  General  Con- 
gress assembled,  by  a  Declaration  bearing  date  the  fourth  day  of 
July  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy  six,  for  the  reasons 
therein  mentioned  solemnly  declared  that  the  united  Colonies  of 
North  America  are  and  of  right  ought  to  be  free  and  independent 
states  and  that  they  are  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British 
Crown,  and  that  all  political  connection  between  them  and  the  state 
of  Great  Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be  totally  dissolved,  which  Declara- 
tion is  approved  by  this  Assembly.  Wherefore  it  is  expedient  for 
the  security  of  this  State  that  an  oath  of  fidelity  be  taken  by  the 
freemen  and  officers  thereof." 

The  oath  is  as  follows : 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  Governor,  Council  and  Representatives  in 
General  Court  assembled,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  same — That 
all  the  members  of  the  General  Assembly  and  other  officers  civil  and 
military,,  and  freemen  within  the  State  of  Connecticut,  shall  take 
the  following  oath :  viz,  You  A.B.  do  swear  by  the  ever  living 
God  that  you  will  truly  and  faithfully  adhere  to  and  maintain  the 
government  established  in  this  State  under  the  Authority  of  the 
people,  Agreeable  to  the  laws  in  force  within  the  same ;  and  that  you 
believe  in  your  conscience  that  the  King  of  Great  Britain  hath 
not,  nor  of  right  ought  to  have,  any  authority  or  dominion  in  or  over 
this  State;  and  that  you  do  not  hold  yourself  bound  to  yield  any 
allegiance  or  obedience  to  him  within  the  same ;  and  that  you  will,  to 
the  utmost  of  your  power,  maintain  and  defend  the  freedom,  in- 
dependence and  privileges  of  this  State  against  all  open  enemies 


—97— 

or  traitorous  conspiracies  whatsoever — So  help  you  God.  And 
no  person  shall  have  authority  to  execute  any  of  the  offices  aforesaid 
after  the  first  day  of  January  next  until  he  hath  taken  said  oath: 
and  all  persons  who  hereafter  shall  be  appointed  to  any  of  said 
offices  shall  take  said  oath  before  they  enter  on  the  execution  of 
their  offices.  And  no  freeman  within  this  State  shall  be  allowed 
to  vote  in  the  election  of  any  of  the  officers  of  government  until 
he  hath  taken  the  aforesaid  oath  in  the  open  freeman's  meeting 
in  the  town  where  he  dwells ;  and  the  names  of  all  the  freemen 
who  take  said  oath  shall  be  inrolled  by  the  town  clerk  in  the  records 
of  the  town,  which  oath  shall  be  administered  by  a  magistrate  or 
justice  of  the  peace." 

The  above  enactment  went  into  effect  January  I,  1777. 
The  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut  met  annually  in  May 
and  October. 

At  the  May  session  of  1777,  Newtown  was  not  repre- 
sented in  the  Legislature,  as  no  one  in  Newtown  had,  up  to 
that  time,  taken  the  oath  of  fidelity,  and  we  have  only  to 
open  the  records  to  find  that  the  freemen  of  Newtown  were 
slow  in  conforming  to  the  requirements  of  the  law.  Let  us 
not  be  too  severe  at  this  distant  day  in  denouncing  those  who 
delayed  or  refused,  as  being  traitorous  at  heart  in  the  mean- 
ing of  that  word  in  its  broadest  sense.  Let  us  rather  be 
charitable,  and  think,  that  as  a  rule,  each  one  was  governed 
by  the  dictates  of  his  conscience  doing  as  he  thought  right, 
as  God  gave  him  to  see  the  right. 

The  records  show  that  between  August  25,  1777,  and 
April  12,  1790,  when  the  record  closes,  only  337  of  New- 
town's  freemen  took  the  oath  of  fidelity.  It  cannot  help  but 
be  interesting  to  the  historian,  as  well  as  to  our  own  town's- 
people,  to  have  the  list  given  in  full ;  interesting  too,  to  see 
how  many  of  the  old  family  names  of  almost  two  hundred 
years  ago  are  still  household  words  with  us.  Notice  the 
record  under  each  date  as  the  months  went  by,  and  see  how 
the  tide  ebbed  and  flowed  as  men  struggled  with  conscience 
in  marking  out  the  path  of  duty. 


"Newtown    August   25    1777     Personally   appeared   and   took   the 
oath  of  fidelity  before  me,  Jabez  Botsford  Justice  of  the  Peace" — 
"Caleb   Baldwin   Junr,   the  Town   Clerk." 

A  noble  example  of  one  of  Newtown's  foremost  men,  who 
always  dared  to  lead  where  any  dared  to  follow.  Draw  on 
our  imagination  all  we  will,  who  of  us,  at  this  distant  day, 
can  realize  the  dignity,  the  solemnity,  of  the  scene  when  the 
first  little  band  of  eight  freemen  stood  before  the  gallant 
leader  they  had  in  the  Town  Clerk,  and  with  uplifted  hand, 
swore  before  the  ever  living  God  to  uphold,  and  defend  if 
need  be  with  their  lives,  the  cause  espoused  as  set  forth  in 
the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

Dates  when  taken,  and  names  of  those  who  took  the  oath 
of  fidelity  in  Newtown  before  Caleb  Baldwin  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  as  well  as  Town  Clerk. 

August  25,  1777— Jabez  Botsford  Esqr,  George  Terrill,  Lieut.  Ben- 
jamin Summers,  Richard  Fairman,  James  Fairchild  Junr,  Fitch  Kim- 
berly,  Moses  Shepherd,  Elijah  Botsford. 

August  26 — Lieut.  Nathanael  Brisco,  John  Botsford,  Lieut.  Henry 
Fairman. 

August  27 — Nathanael  Barnum,  September  i — Eleazer  Burritt, 
Matthew  Curtis,  Joshua  Northrop,  Josiah  Bardslee,  Abel  Baldwine, 
Capt.  Jonathan  Northrop,  Amos  Burritt,  Elijah  Fott,  Eli  Dunning, 
Henry  Wood,  David  Baldwin,  Gideon  Botsford,  Silas  Hubbell, 
Oliver  Fairchild. 

September  4— Matthew  Curtiss  Junr,  Jeptha  Hubbell,  Henry  Peck 
Esqr,  Ephraim  Sherman,  Abraham  Bennitt  Junr,  Jared  Botsford, 
Asa  Cogswell,  James  Fairchild,  Capt.  Benjamin  Dunning,  Deacon 
Abraham  Bennitt,  Samuel  Brown,  Matthew  Baldwin,  Ezra  Peck, 
Capt.  Joseph  Wheeler,  Abraham  Botsford,  Lieut.  Amos  Terrill, 
Jared  Dunning,  Joshua  Hatch,  Capt.  Joseph  Smith,  Nathan  Sherman, 
Moses  Platt,  Silas  Fairchild,  Ebenezer  Fairchild,  Ebenezer  Smith, 
Enos  Northrop,  Doctor  James  Sanford,  Josiah  Platt,  Jonathan 
Beardslee,  Abraham  Baldwin,  David  Terrill,  Capt.  Richard  Smith, 
Nirum  Summers. 

October  4 — Levy  Bostwick,  Ephraim  Jackson,  Job  Bunnill,  Ger- 
shum  Jackson,  Samuel  Hawley,  David  Jackson  Junr,  Ezra  Birch, 
James  Prindle,  Ezra  Dunning,  Abraham  Kimberly,  Clement  Bots- 


ford,  Thomas  Sharp,  David  Jackson,  Joseph  Gunn,  John  Keeler, 
Abel  Smith,  David  Peck,  Abraham  Lewes,  Abel  Gunn,  Isaac  Hawley, 
Isaac  Hawley  Junr,  Rev.  Mr.  Thomas  Brooks,  Nathan  Burritt,  Amos 
Northrop,  Capt.  Abel  Botsford,  Gamaliel  French,  Thomas  Ford, 
John  Skidmur,  Nathan  Washbon,  James  Glover,  Eleazer  Lacy, 
David  Curtiss,  Daniel  Sherman,  Nathaniel  Bunnill,  Daniel  Morriss, 
Roger  Hendryx,  Col.  John  Chandler,  Reuben  Dunning,  Reuben 
Taylor,  Silas  Hepburn,  John  Johnson,  Abel  Johnson,  Joseph  Bots- 
ford, Edward  Foot,  John  Bostwick,  Andrew  Northrop,  David  Jud- 
son,  Nathan  Camp,  David  Botsford,  Capt.  Joseph  Hepburn,  Samuel 
Beardslee  Junr,  Elijah  Hard,  John  Bassitt,  Amos  Shepherd,  Doctor 
Preserve  Wood,  George  Northrop,  Eli  Wheeler,  Gideon  Botsford 
Junr,  Elijah  Stillson,  Joseph  Hard,  Birdsy  Glover,  Andrew  Beers, 
Joseph  Stillson,  Gideon  Dunning,  George  Shepard,  George  Northrop, 
Josiah  Hays. 

1778 — Daniel  Glover,  Capt.  Joseph  Prindle,  Lazarus  Prindle,  David 
Meeker,  Cyrus  Prindle,  Jabez  Baldwin,  Abraham  Baldwin,  William 
Allin,  John  Smith. 

1779 — John  Hard,  George  Foot  Junr,  Theophilus  Nichols,  William 
Edmond,  Livinus  Peck,  John  Beach,  Josiah  Beardslee  Junr,  Jotham 
Sherman,  James  Shepard,  Joel  Prindle,  Abiel  Booth,  Thomas 
Wheeler,  Birdsey  Glover,  Zalmon  Peck,  John  Hard,  Andrew  Stillson, 
Joshua  Peck,  David  Hinman,  Matthew  Hall. 

1781 — Nehemiah  Strong. 

1782 — Amos  Bennitt,  Abel  Foot,  Reuben  Terrill,  Hezekiah  Dayton, 
John  Summers,  John  Blackman  Junr,  Josiah  Fairchild,  Abel  Skid- 
more,  Amos  Sherman,  Nehemiah  Curtiss,  Abijah  Curtiss,  Stephen 
Crofoot,  Francis  Peirce,  Benjamin  Curtiss. 

In  1783  there  seems  to  have  been  a  great  change  of 
sentiment  as  93  took  the  oath  of  fidelity,  viz. : 

John  Fabrique,  Jehosaphat  Prindle,  Ezra  Sherman,  George  Sample, 
Hezekiah  Booth,  Capt.  Peter  Nichols,  Capt.  John  Glover,  Junr. 
Zalmon  Booth,  Cyrus  Beers,  Cyrenius  Hard,  Amos  Hard,  Nirum 
Hard,  Rueben  Booth  Solomon  Glover,  Ichabod  Fairman,  Joseph 
Foot,  Henry  Glover  Junr.  Elisha  Wooster,  Zalmon  Tousey  Junr. 
Salmon  Curtiss,  Stephen  Burwell  Jr.,  James  Thomas,  Anson  Hard, 
Levi  Peck,  Job  Crawford,  John  Beach  Jr.,  Truman  Blackman, 
Caleb  Bennitt,  Theophilus  Botsford,  Salmon  Glover,  Roger 
Terrill,  Nathaniel  Peck,  Daniel  Terrill,  Elijah  Peck,  Alpheus 
Fairchild,  Curtis  Hard,  Andrew  Griffin,  Abel  Winton,  Abraham 


— IOO — 

Wheeler,  Truman  Sherman,  Reuben  Curtiss,  James  Foot,  Elias 
Beardslee,  Philo  Parmalee,  Timothy  Treadwell,  Eli  Peck,  Nirom 
Curtiss,  Abraham  Booth,  Nathaneal  Judson,  Amos  Griffin,  Isaac 
Tousey,  Samuel  Beers,  Nathaniel  Northrop,  Daniel  Clark  Sanford, 
Daniel  Humphrey,  Capt.  Ephraim  Kimberly,  William  Hall,  Josiah 
Blackman,  Jonathan  Booth,  Capt.  John  Blackman,  Capt.  Henry 
Glover,  James  Bennitt,  Zachariah  Clark,  Isaac  Trowbridge,  Abel 
Ferris,  Heth  Griffin, 

1784— Abel  Booth,  Peter  Lake,  Ephraim  Lake,  Joseph  Bristol,  Seth 
Fairchild,  Philo  Tousey,  William  Burwell,  Philo  Fairchild,  Abraham 
Beers,  Abel  Prindle,  Asa  Chambers,  Abel  Tousey,  John  Walker, 
Jabez  Peck,  Philo  Curtis,  Samuel  Sanford,  Elias  Glover,  William 
Northrop,  Ebenezer  Booth,  Luther  Harris,  Wait  Northrop,  Drake 
Northrop,  Benjamin  Hawley,  Noadiah  Warner,  Samuel  French, 
Amial  Peck,  Samuel  Peck. 

1785 — Theophilus  Hurd,  John  Beers  Junr,  Benjamin  Stillson, 
Elijah  Nichols,  Thomas  Stillson,  Philo  Norton,  George  Peck,  Enos 
Johnson,  Obadiah  Wheeler,  Elias  Beers,  Joseph  Bennitt  Wheeler, 
Moses  Botsford,  Curtis  Waimvright,  Nathaneal  Briscoe  Junr.  Peter 
Clark  Hull,  Abijah  Hard. 

1787 — Daniel  Baldwin,  Robert  Summers,  Gold  Curtiss,  Zenas 
Washburn,  Daniel  Botsford,  Vine  Botsford,  William  Birch  Junr. 
Eldad  Jenny,  James  Hendryx,  Jabez  Beers,  Samuel  Trowbridge. 

1788 — Donald  Tousey,  David  Tousey. 

1789 — Zadock  Fairchild,  Jonathan  Fairchild,  David  Booth. 

1790 — John  Winthrop  Chandler,  Moses  Kent  Botsford,  Clement 
Fairchild,  Ezekiel  Fairchild. 

When  by  order  of  Congress  a  loan  office  was  established 
in  each  of  the  United  States  to  receive  such  monies  as  might 
be  offered  for  loan,  and  commissioners  were  appointed 
in  the  respective  towns  to  receive  loans,  for  which  they 
should  deliver  over  to  the  lenders  loan  certificates  bearing 
four  per  cent,  interest  and  payable  in  three  years,  Caleb 
Baldwin,  Esq.,  was  appointed  Commissioner  for  Newtown, 
and  our  town  records  show  that  there  were  a  few  loans  made 
to  help  furnish  the  Continential  army  with  the  needed  sinews 
of  war,  as  the  following  receipts  given  by  the  Commissioner 
will  show : 


— 101 — 

"Newtown  June  23,  1778 — Received  of  Mr.  Aaron  McGregory  for 
Continental  Loan  office  the  sum  of  seventy  dollars." 

"Newtown  July  6  1778  Received  of  Thomas  Brooks  Junr.  for 
Continental  Loan  office  the  sum  of  thirty  eight  Pounds  ten  shillings." 

"Newtown  August  10  1778  Received  of  Mr  Josiah  Beardslee  for 
Continental  Loan  office  the  sum  of  one  hundred  pounds  money." 

"Newtown  October  26  1778  Received  of  Mrs  Mary  Judson  for 
Continental  Loan  office  the  sum  of  fifty  seven  dollars  and  two 
thirds  of  a  dollar. 

(Mrs  Judson  was  widow  of  Rev.  David  Judson.)" 

"Newtown  December  8  1778  Received  of  Mr  Jonathan  Fairchild 
for  Continental  Loan  office  the  sum  of  six  hundred  dollars." 

"Newtown  April  21  1779  Received  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Baldwin  for 
Continental  Loan  office  the  sum  of  100  dollars." 

"Newtown  April  28  1779  Received  of  Mrs  Mary  Robson  for  Con- 
tinental Loan  office  the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars." 

"Newtown  May  31  1779  Received  of  Mr  Caleb  Baldwin  Junr. 
State  Certificate  Containing  one  hundred  and  seventy  seven  dollars 
property  of  Capt.  Joseph  Smith,  and  of  Certificate  Estates  two 
Hundred  dollars,  and  of  school  money,  seventy  five  dollars,  and 
of  Mr  Caleb  Baldwin  Sixty  three  dollars. 

Abel  Botsford." 

In  all,  there  are  nine  loans  recorded  on  our  town  records, 
two  of  which  were  made  by  women. 

In  the  campaign  of  1781  Count  de  Rochambeau  marched 
his  army  from  Providence,  R.  I.,  to  Bedford,  N.  Y.,  in  the 
month  of  June.  He  was  on  his  way  to  join  Gen.  Washing- 
ton in  his  operations  against  Lord  Cornwallis.  They 
encamped  at  Woodbury  on  the  night  of  June  27  and  reached 
Newtown  on  the  28th  and  remained  until  Sunday,  July  I, 
when  they  broke  camp  and  proceeding  through  Ridgebury 
reached  Bedford,  N.  Y.,  Monday,  July  2,  ready  to  join  their 
forces  with  the  main  army.  The  army  marched  in  regi- 
ments until  reaching  Newtown,  following  one  another  at 
intervals  of  a  day's  march  or  at  a  distance  of  about  15  miles. 
Their  stay  in  Newtown  was  cut  short  by  urgent  orders  from 
Gen.  Washington  to  hasten  toward  the  Hudson  river. 
There  was  no  rest  except  what  was  imperatively  necessary 


102 — 

and  some  of  the  French  officers  set  the  example  of  walking 
the  whole  distance  at  the  head  of  their  regiments.  The 
officers  wore  coats  of  white  broadcloth  trimmed  with  green, 
white  under  dress  and  hats  with  two  corners  instead  of 
three  like  the  cocked  hats  worn  by  the  American  officers, 
paid  all  their  expenses  in  hard  money,  committed  no  depre- 
dations and  treated  the  inhabitants  with  great  civility  and 
propriety. — "History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  New 
England  States." 

According  to  the  Magazine  of  American  History  the 
army  numbered  600  artillery,  600  cavalry  and  3600  infantry, 
4800  men  in  all.  While  they  were  in  Newtown  five  men 
deserted  from  their  ranks.  Their  encampment  was  on  the 
plain  and  hillside  near  Mrs.  Philo  Clark's,  southwest  of  our 
village.  Esquire  Lamson  Birch,  who  died  some  50  years 
ago  and  who  lived  upon  that  plain,  remembered  many  inci- 
dents connected  with  Revolutionary  times  and  he  confirmed 
the  statement  that  there  was  an  encampment  of  French 
soldiers  near  his  father's  house,  as  did  also  Aunt  Ann  Foote, 
who  in  Revolutionary  days  lived  in  a  house  that  stood  where 
Mrs.  Barney  Kelly  now  lives.  There  were  two  divisions 
of  the  French  army  passed  through  Newtown  at  different 
times.  Aunt  Mary  Ann  Glover,  as  every  one  called  her, 
born  in  1776  and  dying  in  1878  aged  102  years,  claimed  to 
remember  distinctly  an  encampment  of  French  soldiers  on 
this  plain  east  of  the  village  where  we  now  are,  and  she  also 
remembers  the  celebration  of  the  proclamation  of  peace 
when  an  ox  was  roasted  whole  at  the  head  of  Newtown 
street.  The  second  passage  of  a  French  army  through 
the  town  was  under  Gen.  LaFayette  marching  from  the 
Hudson  river  across  to  Boston,  when  they  encamped  in 
Newtown  over  night.  One  needs  only  to  bear  in  mind  that 
Newtown  lies  on  the  direct  inland  course  from  Hartford 
to  the  Hudson  river  at  Peekskill  to  see,  that  of  necessity 
the  moving  of  troops  in  either  direction,  from  the  eastern 
coast  to  the  Hudson  river  or  from  the  Hudson  river  to 


—103— 

the  eastern  coast,  would  take  them  through  Newtown.  The 
passage  of  French  troops  that  Aunt  Mary  Ann  Glover 
referred  to  was  under  Gen.  LaFayette,  under  marching 
orders  from  Gen.  Washington  to  go  from  Peekskill  to  Bos- 
ton. They  encamped  on  the  plain  between  the  village  and 
the  railroad  station,  and  as  she  said,  when  they  took  up 
marching  orders,  went  eastward  over  the  hill  through 
Sandy  Hook  on  their  way  to  Hartford,  the  bristling  bayo- 
nets as  they  climbed  the  hill  left  the  lasting  impression  on 
her  mind  that  she  often  spoke  of  in  her  later  years. 

The  following  correspondence  that  passed  between  the 
Commander-in-chief  and  Count  de  Rochambeau  when  the 
later  was  en  route  towards  the  Hudson  river,  confirms  the 
statement  that  the  French  army  did  pass  through  Newtown 
and  encamped  here,  thus  removing  everything  that  might 
seem  but  a  myth  in  connection  with  such  a  statement.  On 
the  army  passing  from  Boston  westward  it  reached  Hart- 
ford on  the  22d  of  June,  1781,  as  the  following  letter  and 
the  reply  to  it  will  show,  together  with  other  interesting 
correspondence  a  few  days  later  on  when  the  army  reached 
Newtown. 

"Hartford  23,  June  1781. 

*I  arrived  here  yesterday  with  the  first  regiment  which  has  been 
followed  this  day  by  the  second  and  will  be  so  to-morrow  by  the 
third  and  the  day  after  by  the  fourth.  I  shall  stay  here  this  day  and 
to-morrow  to  give  time  for  our  broken  artillery  carriages  to  be 
mended  and  our  young  artillery  horses  and  oxen  to  refresh  them- 
selves. I  shall  set  off  the  day  after  to-morrow  with  the  first  regi- 
ment for  Newtown,  the  army  to  march  in  four  divisions  on  before 
and  I  shall  probably  arrive  there  on  the  28th  and  stay  the  2Qth  and 
3Oth  to  assemble  the  brigade  and  march  in  two  divisions  to  the 
North  River.  The  corps  of  Lauzun  will  march  as  far  advanced  as 
my  first  division  through  Middletown,  Wallingford,  North  Haven, 
Ripton  and  North  Stratford,  in  which  last  place  it  will  be  on  the 
28th.  I  have  the  honor,  &c., 

The  Count  de  Rochambeau. 

His  Excellency  George  Washington. 

*From  Magazine  of  American  History. 
8 


— 104 — 

Camp  near  Peekskill,  27  June  1781. 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  of  receiving  your  Excellency's  favor  of  the 
23d  instant  from  Hartford.  It  would  have  given  me  the  greatest 
pleasure  could  I  have  made  it  convenient  to  meet  you  at  Newtown, 
but  independently  of  many  arrangements  which  are  necessary  at  the 
first  taking  of  the  field,  I  am  detained  by  the  hourly  expectation  of 
the  Chevalier-de-la-Lauzun.  I  am  pleased  to  find  that  your  idea  of 
the  position  which  will  be  proper  for  the  troops  under  your  command 
coincides  with  my  own  and  I  shall  be  happy  in  giving  your  quarter- 
master general  every  assistance  in  reconnoitering  and  making  out 
your  camp.  Lieutenant  Col  Cobb,  one  of  my  aids-de-camp,  will  have 
the  honor  of  delivering  this  letter  and  will  return  to  me  with  any 
dispatch  or  message  your  Excellency  may  wish  to  communicate,  or 
should  you  rather  incline  to  come  forward  from  Newtown  before 
the  army  Col  Cobb  will  be  proud  to  attend  you.  I  shall  be  much 
obliged  if  your  Excellency  will  present  to  Count  de  Barras  by  the 
next  occasion  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  readiness  with  which  he  was 
pleased  to  accept  the  proposition  I  had  the  honor  to  make  him 
through  your  Excellency.  I  am,  &c., 

George  Washington. 

The  Count  de  Rochambeau. 
(Hartford.) 

Headquarters  Peekskill, 
June  30  1781. 

Dear  Sir :  The  enclosed  letter  to  Count  de  Rochambeau  is  of  very 
great  importance  and  requires  the  utmost  secrecy  in  its  communica- 
tion. This  idea  you  will  convey  to  the  Count  before  its  delivery, 
to  affect  which  you  will  first  converse  with  the  chevalier  Chastellux 
on  the  mode  of  its  communication. 

Its  object  is  to  inform  the  Count  that  I  have  in  contemplation  a 
very  sudden  surprise  of  some  part  of  the  army  which  will  be  of  very 
great  importance  in  our  operations  and  which  we  have  flattering 
expectations  of  obtaining,  to  cover  and  support  which,  if  obtained, 
we  shall  want  the  aid  of  the  French  army,  in  which  case  it  will  be 
necessary  for  the  Count  to  push  on  his  troops  with  greater  haste 
than  he  at  present  intends,  and  by  a  different  route  from  that  now 
in  view.  The  Duke  de  Lauzun's  legion  is  to  advance.  The 
movements  which  I  would  wish  to  be  made  by  the  French  army  are 
particularized  in  my  letter  to  the  Count  which  you  will  see.  It  will 
be  for  you  to  impress  the  gentlemen  with  the  importance  of  their 
motions  to  support  our  operations,  as  it  will  be  to  little  purpose 
for  us  to  obtain  advantages  which  we  may  not  be  able  to  maintain. 


—105— 

As  the  Count  with  his  troops  is  now  in  a  very  disaffected  part 
of  the  country  and  the  Tories  will  be  desirous  to  give  any  informa- 
tion in  their  power,  the  most  profound  secrecy  will  be  necessary. 
Secrecy  and  dispatch  must  prove  the  soul  of  success  to  the  enterprise. 
This  idea  you  must  impress  with  energy  using  your  best  discretion 
in  the  mode.  I  am,  &c., 

George  Washington. 
Lieutenant  Colonel  David  Cobb. 
(Hartford.) 


Reply : 

Newtown,  June  30,  1781. 

Sir :  I  was  at  Count  de  Rochambeau's  this  evening  when  I  received 
your  Excellency's  dispatches.  General  Chastellux  was  immediately 
sent  for,  and  the  heads  of  departments  consulted  on  the  new  intended 
route  of  the  Army.  The  Count  inquired  whether  your  Excellency 
was  acquainted  with  the  removal  of  the  Yagers  and  some  other  troops 
from  Long  Island  to  New  York.  I  assured  his  Excellency  was 
perfectly  acquainted  with  it  and  all  the  other  movements  of  the 
enemy  at  New  York  and  that  your  Excellency  would  never  under- 
take a  matter  of  this  kind  but  upon  certain  intelligence  and  the 
surest  ground  of  success.  The  Count  was  perfectly  satisfied  with 
the  plan  proposed  and  assured  me  that  duty  as  well  as  inclination 
prompted  him  to  comply  with  your  Excellency's  wishes.  Orders 
are  accordingly  given  for  the  march  of  the  first  brigade  in  the 
morning,  and  the  Duke's  legion  which  is  now  at  New  Stratford  will 
undoubtedly  march  at  the  same  time.  It  will  be  at  the  place  of 
destination  at  the  time  proposed,  12  o'clock. 

The  rest  of  the  army  will  follow  when  the  other  division  arrives 
which  comes  up  to-morrow.  The  Count  in  his  letter  wishes  an 
answer  from  your  Excellency  by  to-morrow  night.  It  would  be 
more  agreeable  if  it  came  sooner.  I  am,  &c.,  David  Cobb. 

His  Excellency  General  Washington. 

Peekskill. 


On  July  i,  the  French  army  broke  camp  in  Newtown  and 
proceeding  westward  joined  Washington's  army  on  July  6, 
at  Phillipsburg,  Westchester  County,  where  the  American 
troops  were  resting  in  two  lines  along  the  Hudson  river. 
From  there  the  allied  troops  marched  to  King's  Ferry,  where 


— 106 — 

a  reconnoisance  of  the  position  of  the  British  works  before 
New  York  was  made.  The  arrival  of  the  French  troops 
was  opportune  in  helping  carry  out  the  deep  laid  plans  of 
Gen.  Washington  and  he  commended  in  the  highest  terms 
their  rapid  march  from  Providence  across  Connecticut,  in 
which  Newtown  had  a  share. 

Imperfectly  and  incompletely  we  have  followed  along  the 
lines  of  Newtown's  pioneer  life  until  near  the  close  of  the 
American  revolution.  Time  forbids  any  further  review 
on  this  occasion.  In  October,  1911,  will  come  the  Bicen- 
tennial of  Newtown's  incorporation,  when  her  history  can  be 
reviewed  through  the  second  century  of  her  existence. 
The  observance  of  such  events  tends  to  keep  alive  that  civic 
and  historic  pride  that  every  town  should  foster  and  encour- 
age. 

One  word  to  the  500  children  who  are  with  us  on  this 
historic  occasion. 

Dear  children,  we  welcome  you  here  to-day.  No  appro- 
priation of  money  that  has  been  made  by  the  Executive 
Committee  to  help  make  the  events  of  this  day  a  success, 
has  been  done  more  willingly  than  the  one  to  help  make  it 
possible  to  bring  the  children  of  the  town  together  in  a  way 
that  would  be  pleasant,  attractive  and  instructive  in  every 
particular. 

May  God  bless  you  all,  and  when  the  time  comes,  as  come 
it  will,  when  you  will  take  up  the  duties  that  we  older  ones 
must  soon  lay  down,  if  you  succeed  in  helping  make  home, 
town,  state  and  National  life  better  than  it  is  to-day,  it  will  be 
because  you  do  the  best  you  can  as  the  days  go  by. 

One  hundred  years  hence  will  come  the  tricentennial  of 
the  event  we  celebrate  to-day.  May  we  not  hope,  nay,  may 
we  not  believe,  that  it  will  be  ushered  in  and  observed  in  a 
manner  fitting  such  an  occasion  and  the  early  days  of  our 
town's  history  be  again  reviewed.  None  of  us  will  be  here, 
for 


—ID;— 

"We  all  within  our  graves  will  sleep 
One  hundred  years  to  come. 
No  living  soul  for  us  will  weep 
One  hundred  years  to  come. 
But  other  men  our  lands  will  till 
And  others  then  our  streets  will  fill, 
While  other  birds  will  sing  as  gay 
As  bright  the  sun  shine  as  to-day 
One  hundred  years  to  come." 


NOTE. 

When  the  historical  paper  that  was  read  at  Newtown's  Bicenten- 
nial celebration  August  5,  1905,  was  being  prepared,  it  was  with  no 
expectation  that  it  would  have  more  than  a  temporary  place  in  the 
thoughts  or  interests  of  the  people,  and  one  insertion  in  our  local 
paper,  the  Newtown  Bee;  and  when  the  writer  was  asked  by  those 
who  had  the  arranging  of  the  order  of  exercises  for  the  day,  how 
much  time  must  be  allowed  for  the  reading  of  the  historical  paper, 
the  unhesitating  reply  was  "twenty  minutes." 

Study,  research  and  compilation  led  the  historian  on  and  on,  con- 
stantly opening  new  fields  of  historic  interest,  until  it  became  a 
question,  not  so  much  as  to  the  quantity  that  might  be  gathered,  as 
it  was  as  to  quality.  The  process  of  culling  completed,  the  paper  had 
its  place  in  the  literary  exercises  of  the  day,  and  was  printed  as 
read,  in  the  Newtown  Bee,  on  the  following  week.  Local  interest 
and  pride  would  not  stop  there,  but  strongly  urged  that  the  addresses 
and  historical  paper  should  appear  in  book  form,  not  only  for  present 
reference,  but  for  the  interest  of  coming  generations. 

The  paper  then  prepared  now  appears  in  full  as  it  was  before 
being  condensed  in  order  to  not  take  more  than  a  proper  share  of 
the  time  allotted  for  it  in  the  prescribed  order  of  the  day. 

With  its  imperfections  and  incompleteness  it  is  given  with  the 
hope  that  it  will  meet  with  a  kindly  greeting  from  all  our  towns- 
people, and  from  those  who  are  still  of  us  though  not  with  us, 
wherever  fate,  fortune,  choice  or  duty  may  have  taken  them. 

Particular  care  as  to  accuracy  has  been  taken  in  regard  to  all 
statistical  matter  and  copying  from  records  and  public  documents. 

It  would  show  a  lack  of  courtesy  not  to  embrace  the  present 
opportunity  to  thank  those  who  have  given  kindly  help,  when  asked 
for,  in  the  way  of  access  to  old  records  and  manuscripts.  To  the 


— io8— 

State  librarian,  to  the  officials  in  the  Adjutant  General's  office,  and 
in  that  of  the  State  Superintendent  of  Schools,  to  those  in  charge  of 
the  rooms  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  as  well  as  the  care 
keepers  of  the  public  libraries  of  New  Haven  and  Bridgeport,  thanks 
are  due  and  given. 

The  Connecticut  Colonial  Records,  the  History  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  New  England,  the  Magazine  of  American  History;  also 
Hoadly's  Records  of  the  State  of  Connecticut  from  1776  to  1789 
inclusive,  have  been  valuable  books  for  reference. 

The  custodians  of  the  Congregational  Church  records  have  been 
extremely  kind  in  loaning  them  for  my  use. 

Searching  of  Newtown  Probate  Records  of  date  previous  to  1820 
necessitated  going  to  Danbury,  and  there  the  Judge  of  Probate  was 
very  courteous,  kind  and  helpful ;  and  when  occasion  required  access 
to  our  town  records,  Newtown's  Town  Clerk  has  ever  been  ready 
with  pleasant  greeting  and  kindly  interest. 

Surely,  in  Newtown  we  have  a  goodly  heritage,  and  let  us  strive 
by  strengthening  our  moral,  our  religious,  our  social  and  our  domes- 
tic ties,  to  help  uplift  ourselves  as  a  whole,  to  a  higher  plane  of 
sobriety,  good  order  and  general  usefulness.  [E.  L.  j.] 


It  was  impossible  for  many  on  the  outskirts  of  the  large 
audience  to  hear  Mr.  Johnson,  unaccustomed  as  he  is  to 
speaking  in  public.  But  the  numbers  who  crowded  close  to 
the  platform,  and  stood  to  listen  eagerly  to  the  address  to 
its  close,  witnessed  to  the  interest  and  appreciation  with 
which  it  was  received.  It  was  read  by  a  large  number  when 
printed  in  the  next  issue  of  the  Newtown  Bee.  That  it 
might  have  a  permanent  record  is  one  of  the  chief  reasons 
for  the  publishing  of  this  volume. 

At  the  close  of  Mr.  Johnson's  address  "The  Star  Spangled 
Banner"  was  sung  by  Mrs.  Sherwood  S.  Thompson,  of  New 
Haven,  a  native  of  Newtown  and  daughter  of  the  late 
Captain  Julius  Sanford,  her  sister,  Mrs.  C.  B.  Bolmer, 
playing  the  accompaniment. 

At  i  :3O  P.  M.  an  intermission  of  an  hour  was  taken  for 
luncheon.  The  Committee  on  Entertainment  had  provided 


CHARLES    F.    BEARDSLEY 
Chairman  of  the  Entertainment  Committee. 


—log— 

an  abundance  of  sandwiches  and  crullers  in  the  large 
Agricultural  Building  of  the  Fair  Association,  where 
waiters  served  the  multitude.  The  people  entered  by  the 
east  door,  near  which  they  were  provided  with  wooden 
plates  and  paper  napkins.  After  helping  themselves  to  as 
much  as  they  chose,  they  passed  out  at  the  west  door  and 
picnicked  in  the  grand  stand,  in  the  buildings,  in  their 
carriages,  or  on  the  grass.  An  abundance  of  hot  coffee  and 
iced  lemonade  was  provided  at  the  north  end  of  the  grand 
stand.  So  abundant  was  the  provision  that  over  one 
thousand  sandwiches  and  much  other  food  had  been  left 
after  the  multitude  had  been  satisfied. 

The  Governor,  the  speakers  of  the  day,  and  specially 
invited  guests  lunched  with  the  Executive  Committee  in  the 
room  under  the  south  end  of  the  grand  stand.  Mr.  Beards- 
ley  and  his  assistants  had  tastefully  decorated  the  room  with 
bunting  and  spread  a  feast  such  as  Newtown  ladies  know 
how  to  prepare.  One  feature  of  the  table  was  a  large  cake 
set  in  front  of  the  Governor's  place  representing  Ronald 
Castle,  the  gift  of  Mr.  Peter  L.  Ronald,  a  generous  con- 
tributor to  the  expenses  of  the  celebration. 

The  afternoon  session  was  opened  by  a  selection  by  the 
Woodbury  Brass  Band,  after  which  the  President  of  the  day 
introduced  the  poet.  He  said : 

"When  plans  were  first  made  for  this  celebration  and 
for  many  weeks  in  which  the  Executive  Committee  were 
arranging  the  programme,  I  was  in  constant  dread  lest 
some  one  should  propose  that  we  should  have  a  poem 
upon  this  anniversary.  I  had  suffered  much  on  such 
occasions  from  poems  which  told  in  lame  and  halting 
verse  the  things  which  had  already  been  said  in  simple 
prose.  The  length  of  such  poems  had  also  prolonged 
the  agony.  So  great  was  my  dread  of  the  entering  of  a 
poem  to  mar  this  happy  day  that  I  had  almost  decided  to 


provide  myself  with  some  deadly  weapon  with  which  to  put 
to  a  speedy  if  not  painless  rest  the  person  who  should  first 
propose  it.  But  at  last  there  was  placed  in  my  hands  a 
poem  by  one  who  was  so  highly  esteemed  a  friend  I  could 
not  do  him  bodily  harm;  but  to  whom  I  did  not  hesitate  to 
tell  my  opinion  of  occasional  poems.  It  was  his  wish  that  I 
should  read  it,  and  if  not  approved,  he  promised  that  it 
should  be  heard  of  no  more.  If  approved,  I  should  submit 
it  to  the  Executive  Committee  anonymously  and  let  it  be 
accepted  or  rejected  on  its  merits.  It  was  accepted.  I 
think  you  will  agree  with  me  when  you  have  heard  it  that 
we  found  a  poem.  We  did  more,  we  found  a  poet.  Our 
friend  had  frequently  lectured  us  in  the  columns  of  our 
local  paper  on  our  morals  and  manners,  on  good  roads, 
libraries,  the  schools,  and  many  other  practical  matters. 
We  did  not  dream  that  he  could  soar  aloft  or  woo  the  gentle 
muse.  I  am  sure  you  will  all  gladly  listen  to  one  of  our 
own  fellow-townsmen,  who  if  not  a  Tennyson,  is  not  a  Long- 
fellow ;  for  his  poem  is  brief.  The  poet  of  the  day  is  the 
Rev.  Otis  O.  Wright,  Rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  Sandy 
Hook;  his  subject,  "The  Old  Home  Coming." 


REV.   OTIS   OLNEY   WRIGHT 

Rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  Sandy  Hook, 

Poet  of  the  Day. 


THE  OLD  HOME  COMING 

1705-1905 

BY  REV.  OTIS  OLXEY  WRIGHT 


All  hail,  ye  sons  and  daughters ;  welcome  home  ! 
We  greet  your  coming  with  our  songs  of  cheer ! 
To  hill-tops  welcome;   and  to  valleys  fair; 
We  wish  you  joy  beneath  these  blissful  skies. 
Welcome  to  verdant  fields,  and  woodlands  wide, 
With  joyful  songs  of  birds,  and  purling  brooks, 
The  beauty,  and  the  fragrance  of  the  flow'rs, 
And  all  that  comes  in  happy  summer  time 
To  make  us  love  the  dear  old  country-side. 

Lay  down  the  implements  of  labor,  now ; 
Forsake  the  marts  of  trade,  and  common  gain ; 
Close  up  the  office,  and  the  fact'ry  door; 
Throw  off  the  burden  of  consuming  cares ; 
Come  back  again,  and  breathe  the  Newtown  air. 

We  gladly  bid  you  welcome,  one  and  all : 
The  native  born,  and  children's  children  dear. 
With  all  descendants  of  those  gone  before, 
And  you  who  hither  come  but  to  sojourn, — 
Return,  once  more,  to  rest  yourselves  awhile, 
And  feel  the  home  love  in  your  hearts  renewed. 


Back  through  the  records  of  two  hundred  years 
We  trace  the  presence  here  of  those  who  came, — 
The  daring,  strong,  and  brave, — from  Stratford  town, 
Through  winding  valleys  up,  to  Pootatuck : 
Bush,  Junos,  Hawley,  sturdy  pioneers, — 
True  men  of  spirit,  venture,  enterprise, — 


112 

Who  blazed  the  bounds  of  these  first  purchased  lands 

On  graceful  Housatonic's  swirling  stream, — 

(July  the  twenty-fifth,  ye  olden  style, 

'Twas  seventeen  hundred  five,  in  Queen  Anne's  reign,)  — 

The  red  man's  birthright  to  the  white  man  sold 

By  Mauquash,  Nunnaway,  and  Massumpas. 


In  vision  still,  we  see  those  stalwart  sires 
Who  came  to  be  the  Founders  of  the  town : 
Beers,  Curtis,  Judson,  Hawley,  Nichols,  Booth, 
Johnson  and  Fairchild, — names  abiding  here, — 
With  many  others  who  possessed  the  land : 
Men  strong  to  labor ;   and  men  wise  to  rule, — 
Such  were,  indeed,  the  builders  of  the  State, — 
Made  first,  the  Town, — the  germ  of  social  life — 
The  town  is  always  father  to  the  State, 
The  state  the  parent  of  the  Nation,  so ; 
And  we  are  offspring  of  the  life  they  gave. 

IV. 

And  we  now  read  the  roll  of  honored  names 
In  later  generations  known  and  loved : — 
Our  teachers,  statesmen,  judges,  governors; 
Our  preachers,  advocates,  masters  of  crafts, 
And  leaders  true  and  great  in  all  good  works ; — 
Men  born  and  nurtured  here,  in  humble  life, 
With  those  adopted  sons  who  came  to  bide, — 
Who  struggled  on,  and  climbed  the  rugged  way 
That  leads  to  usefulness,  and  wealth,  and  fame : — 
Those  who  have  served  to  make  our  nation  great : — 
Like  Edmond,*  patriot,  and  soldier  brave, 

*  William  Edmond,  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  M.C.,  and  Judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Connecticut;  the  Rev.  John  Beach,  M.A., 
founder  of  Trinity  Church,  Newtown,  Conn. ;  the  Rev.  David  Jud- 
son, pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church ;  Asa  Chapman,  Head  of 
the  Chapman  Law  School ;  Isaac  Toucey,  M.C.,  Governor  of  Con- 
necticut, United  States  Attorney  General,  United  States  Senator,  and 
Secretary  of  Navy;  Henry  Dutton;  Luzon  B.  Morris,  and  William 
Hamilton  Gibson. 


A  statesman  worthy  of  his  stirring  times, 
Who  graced  the  highest  ermine  of  the  State; — 
The  parson  Beach,  and  all  his  honored  line ; 
The  Rev'rend  Judson,  loved  and  long  revered; 
With  Chapman,  also  Judge  of  Court  Supreme, 
And  famous  for  his  law-lore,  widely  sought; — 
Then,  in  the  highest  councils  of  the  land, 
Was  Toucey,  Chief  of  State,  and  Senator;— 
Like  Button,  true  adopted  son,  esteemed, 
Exalted  to  supreme  Judicial  bench, 
And  likewise  Chief  Executive  of  State; — 
So,  Morris,  known  and  loved  in  our  own  day, 
Was  dignified  as  Judge,  and  Governor; — 
And  one  we  claim  by  birth  and  heritage, 
Gibson,  the  seer  of  Nature,  workman  rare, — 
The  poet-artist  of  the  fields  and  woods. 

These  we  revere  and  honor,  here  to-day, 
With  others  also  worthy  to  be  praised, 
And  laud  them  for  their  faith  and  large  success, 
As  for  thefr  thrift,  and  homely  virtues  pure, — 
The  richest  fruitage  gleaned  from  age  to  age, — 
The  truest  glory  of  the  Nation's  fame. 


This  is  the  land  of  light,  and  hope,  and  peace, 

The  goal  of  the  oppressed,  the  poor,  and  lost ; 

And  hither  come  the  Celt  and  Teuton  bold, 

With  Swede,  and  Dane,  and  Slav,  from  out  the  North ; 

And  from  the  South  the  Latin  races  come, 

While  of  the  ancient,  Oriental  world 

Are  dusky  faces,  eager  for  new  life; 

That  swarm  like  bees,  and  seek  the  richer  fields; 

And  all  are  welcome,  so  they  worthy  come, 

And  men  of  ev'ry  clime  find  here  a  home, 

For  this  is  God's  own  land  and  kingdom  true, 

And  we  are  stewards  of  His  gracious  love. 


—114— 


We  live  for  others, — others  lived  for  us, — 
For  on  the  stream  of  time  men  come  and  go, — 
And  life  is  one,  past,  present  and  to  come ; 
And  all  is  ours  if  we  but  claim  our  right, 
The  true,  the  beautiful,  the  good,  and  great. 

Shall  we  not  heed  the  lessons  of  the  past ! 
To  guard  the  treasures  which  our  fathers  won ! 
And  cherish  well  the  wisdom  of  their  thoughts ! 
And  emulate  the  virtues  of  their  lives ! — 
Most  precious  lessons  in  the  schools  of  earth ! 

Let  us  be  true  and  faithful  to  their  trust; 
And  venerate  the  freedom  of  their  souls : 
And  keep  the  law  of  liberty  secure 
For  all  who  come  to  share  these  blessed  gifts ! 


Not  in  ourselves  alone  we  live  and  thrive, 
Nor  for  our  own  we  strive  to  win,  alone ; 
For  we  are  links  in  moving  endless  chains 
Of  passing  generations   "quick  and  dead." 
Not  what  we  have,  but  what  we  are,  is  ours ; 
Not  what  we  gain,  but  what  we  give,  abides ; 
And  so  we  build  the  palace  of  the  soul, 
By  common,  daily  duties  nobly  done; — 
In  thought,  and  word,  and  humble  loving  deeds 
The  light  eternal  shines  in  mortal  lives. 

The  treasure-houses  of  the  world  we  own, 
If  in  our  hearts  and  minds  we  find  the  keys; 
And  in  our  good  desires,  and  hopes,  and  dreams, 
The  firstfruits  of  the  holy  life  Divine, — 
We  have  a  foretaste  of  the  world  unseen; 
And  as  we  celebrate  the  times  long  past, 
And  venerate  the  noble  dead  we  sing, 
We  feast  our  souls  on  sacred  memories, 
And  thus  renew  the  joyful  days  of  youth, 
'Mid  scenes  immortal,  in  the  old,  old  home. 


After  the  Chorus  had  sung  "Let  the  hills  and  vales  rejoice" 
the  President  of  the  day  introduced  the  Governor : 

"The  New  England  town  is  a  little  republic  in  itself, 
but  it  is  part  of  a  greater  civic  body,  the  State.  It  is 
therefore  with  great  pleasure  that  we  greet  the  chief 
magistrate  of  our  Commonwealth,  who  has  accepted  an 
invitation  to  attend  our  town  celebration.  We  esteem  it 
a  great  honor  that,  in  spite  of  his  many  cares  and  calls  to 
duty  elsewhere,  he  should  not  only  grace  this  anniversary 
with  his  presence,  but  should  also  consent  to  make  an 
address.  We  have  sent  forth  some  governors  from  our 
town,  and  feel  able  to  judge  of  the  men  who  have  filled 
so  honorable  a  place  in  the  history  of  our  State.  Among 
that  line  of  distinguished  men  and  a  worthy  successor  to 
Winthrop  and  Button  and  Toucey  and  Morris  is  that 
perfect  gentleman  who  now  holds  that  office.  I  have 
the  honor  to  introduce  His  Excellency,  Henry  Roberts, 
Governor  of  Connecticut." 

The  Governor  received  an  ovation  as  he  rose  to  speak, 
and  after  gracefully  acknowledging  his  introduction  made 
an  address  which  was  received  with  great  favor. 


ADDRESS 


His  EXCELLENCY,  GOVERNOR  HENRY  ROBERTS 


In  celebrating  the  two  hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
purchase  from  the  Indians  of  land  which  now  consti- 
tutes the  township  of  Newtown  you  are  accomplishing  a 
purpose  which  must  carry  with  it  much  that  is  interesting 
and  instructive.  The  older  Connecticut  towns  furnish  a 
record  that  is  attractive  and  inspiring  in  the  lives  of 
former  inhabitants  and  in  the  events  that  have  taken  place 
in  them.  Newtown  is  among  this  number  and  its  present 
residents  may  look  back  and  refer  to  much  that  is  laudable 
and  instructive  in  deeds  and  events, — for  it  is  in  these  rural 
communities  that  we  find  that  some  of  our  most  distin- 
guished and  able  men  and  women  have  been  born,  bred  and 
passed  part  of  their  lives.  And  it  has  been  a  prevailing  and 
worthy  custom  to  take  note  of  these  special  periods  in  a 
town's  history,  such  as  the  one  you  now  celebrate,  to  go  into 
retrospect  and  to  draw  therefrom  lessons  of  value  to  present 
and  coming  generations,  and  there  can  be  few  exercises  of 
more  worth  to  the  youth  of  these  towns  than  such  celebra- 
tions ;  for  not  only  are  the  examples  of  worthy  lives  held  up 
to  them  to  emulate,  but  generous  and  praiseworthy  deeds 
and  accomplishments  are  again  rehearsed  and  an  incentive  is 
afforded  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  those  who  have 
performed  valuable  service  in  their  day  for  the  good  of  the 
community  in  which  they  lived,  or  for  the  state  or  nation. 


HON.    HENRY   ROBERTS 
Governor  of  Connecticut. 


Should  I  recall  the  names  of  persons  who  inhabit  or  have 
inhabited  this  village,  the  list  would  be  found  to  include 
those  to  whom  I  have  referred. 

And  it  is  the  celebration  of  these  anniversaries  that  is 
helpful  to  the  town's  interest  and  betterment,  for  it  is  a 
means  of  not  only  increasing  and  stimulating  the  activity 
of  those  resident  in  the  town,  but  it  recalls  the  associations 
of  former  residents  and  mutually  they  tend  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  something  that  is  of  credit  to  the  community. 

The  Old  Home  Week  movement  ought  to  be  more  and 
more  fostered  as  leading  to  the  result  which  I  have  just 
mentioned,  and  in  other  states  where  it  has  taken  a 
stronger  hold  than  it  has  in  Connecticut  it  has  been  fraught 
with  great  good — by  uniting  the  interests  of  those  who  have 
been  former  inhabitants  of  the  town  with  those  residents 
who  are  now  interested  and  active  in  its  concerns ;  churches 
have  been  aided ;  waste  places  reclaimed,  libraries  built ; 
schools  assisted  and  monuments  and  memorials  commem- 
orating noted  events  or  distinguished  personages  have  been 
erected, — and  so  by  these  benefits  and  object  lessons  there 
is  handed  down  to  coming  generations  not  only  a  knowledge 
of  what  has  worthily  transpired  before  within  the  bounds 
in  which  they  dwell,  but  also  which  will  incite  them  to  make 
their  lives  equally  worthy  and  their  community  more 
attractive.  We  have  few  towns  in  our  Commonwealth 
more  attractive  than  this  one,  with  its  broad  street,  its  fine 
shade  trees,  its  healthful  location,  its  beautiful  landscape, 
its  inviting  dwellings — so  that  it  has  been  for  years  the 
delight  of  the  visitor  and  the  rendezvous  for  those  who 
enjoy  spending  their  summers  in  its  environs,  breathing  the 
pure  air  and  delighting  the  eye  in  the  fair  scene  which  it 
beholds.  So,  my  fellow  citizens  of  Newtown,  you  should 
esteem  yourselves  most  fortunate,  for  you  have  a  goodly 
heritage  and  you  dwell  in  a  pleasant  and  delectable  abiding 
place. 


—  nS— 

And  how  many  of  these  delightful  spots  we  have  in 
Connecticut!  I  have  especially  noted  this  since  my  induc- 
tion into  office  as  your  public  servant.  Who  can  ride 
through  the  broad  Main  street  of  Brooklyn  in  our  state, 
with  its  fine  equestrian  statue  of  Putnam  in  its  central 
square,  its  lofty  overshadowing  elms  and  the  charming 
landscape  in  view,  without  rejoicing  that  God  has  made 
these  goodly  scenes  for  one  to  enjoy  ;  and  who  can  look  upon 
the  Putnam  monument  without  his  soul  being  stirred  to 
greater  patriotism  and  higher  resolve.  This  Brooklyn 
street,  with  your  own,  are  fair  examples  of  the  many  to 
which  I  might  refer  for  their  attractiveness  and  beauty. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  at  this  time  to  note  the 
progress  made  in  the  past  two  hundred  years  in  civili- 
zation, both  by  our  state  and  nation,  and  the  qualities 
and  characteristics  which  have  made  our  nation  great 
and  our  State  holding  the  position  of  high  respect  which 
she  does  among  our  sister  states. 

Two  hundred  years  ago  our  state  was  sparsely  settled 
and  the  inhabitants  of  our  Union  of  States  occupied  only  a 
small  portion  of  its  present  area.  There  was  early 
developed  that  love  of  freedom  and  justice  among  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Connecticut  Colony  which  afterward 
showed  itself  in  such  strong  and  vigorous  force.  For  in  the 
Colonial  and  Revolutionary  wars  Connecticut  displayed  her 
patriotic  spirit,  and  at  all  times  of  crisis  in  our  country's 
history  has  furnished  distinguished  examples  of  loyalty  and 
devotion  to  every  cause  of  righteousness  and  j  ustice.  Her 
love  for  education  of  her  sons  and  daughters  was  a  spirit 
quickly  displayed  and  the  church  and  school  house  were 
companion  structures — a  desire  for  learning  which  has  been 
fostered  in  every  hamlet  within  the  bounds  of  the  state  and 
which  has  been  the  means  of  establishing  a  leading  univer- 
sity and  schools  and  colleges  of  wider  than  state  fame,  within 
whose  walls  are  gathered  students  from  every  realm  of  the 


civilized  world  and  from  which  are  graduated  men  and 
women  who  have  played  large  and  distinguished  parts  in 
life's  role  and  have,  in  the  two  centuries  past,  been  distinctly 
advancing  civilization  and  helpful  to  humanity.  We  are  all 
justly  proud  of  Connecticut  in  this  respect  and  of  the 
honored  place  she  holds  in  matters  of  advanced  and  advanc- 
ing education,  in  all  its  branches. 

Industrially  and  materially  her  progress  has  been  even 
greater.  From  the  time  the  first  steamboat  was  built  and 
launched  (the  invention  of  a  Connecticut  man),  when  a  new 
era  in  the  use  of  steam  was  noted,  till  to-day,  the  men  of 
Connecticut  have  been  signally  noted  for  that  fertility  of 
brain  and  ingenuity  which  have  made  her  name  known  far 
and  wide  for  the  invention  and  manufacture  of  those  articles 
of  utility  and  service  which  have  eased  the  burden  of  labor 
and  brought  added  comforts  to  thousands ;  and  our  thriving 
towns,  developed  in  those  centuries,  with  their  busy  mills, 
fostered  by  this  same  ingenuity  and  genius,  have  given 
employment  to  thousands  of  respected  and  self-respecting 
men  and  women,  than  whom  no  state  has  better,  and  who 
have  their  proper  place  and  share  in  the  glory  of  the 
commonwealth.  Our  state  during  the  time  of  which  we 
speak  has  grown  into  a  veritable  hive  of  industry,  from 
which  have  emanated  many  of  the  valuable  products  of 
the  age. 

No  less  has  been  the  development  in  humanitarian  and 
charitable  helps  for  which  our  state  is  so  justly  noted, — a 
kindly  and  generous  spirit  for  the  unfortunate,  feeble  and 
the  worthy  poor  is  a  growing  characteristic  and  aim  of  our 
people — a  broad,  brotherly  and  catholic  purpose  which 
augurs  much  for  good  feeling,  good  order  and  good  morals. 
In  the  foregoing  and  many  other  ways  we  may  rejoice  in 
this  era  of  higher  impulse,  better  equipment  for  nobler  and 
more  valuable  service  and  help  for  mankind,  as  well  in  our 
great  material  prosperity  and  higher  intellectuality. 

9 


— 120 — 

But  what  of  our  Nation's  growth  and  progress?  This 
has  been  simply  stupendous  and  marvellous.  It  has  out- 
stripped all  other  peoples  in  all  that  which  pertains  to  the 
uplifting  and  civilizing  of  mankind.  From  an  inferior 
power,  but  whose  people  have  been  controlled  by  noble 
motives  and  lofty  ambitions,  lovers  of  liberty  and  justice, 
with  far-sighted  and  able  leaders,  it  now  ranks  as  the 
leading  nation  of  the  world,  a  power  to  be  respected  and  a 
force  to  be  reckoned  with  in  the  settlement  of  international 
affairs;  a  referee  and  a  judge,  to  whom  the  disputes  of 
other  powers  are  brought  for  adjustment;  a  provider  for 
the  world's  subsistence  and  comfort  from  its  fertile-bearing 
fields  and  the  products  of  its  skilled  industries ;  wonderful 
and  startling  the  inventions  of  its  artisans,  and  giving  to 
the  world  in  various  other  ways  results  of  genius  and 
professional  ability  which  has  made  the  world  recognize  in 
our  people  the  leaders  in  thought  and  action  and  by  which 
you  and  I,  as  individuals,  have  been  so  signally  blessed  and 
helped. 

Truly  these  centuries  have  been  those  of  astounding 
uplift  and  progress  and  periods  during  which  so  much  has 
been  accomplished  that  we  wonder  at  it,  and  our  forefathers 
could  have  no  conception  of  the  Republic  they  were  found- 
ing and  much  less  what  it  was  destined  to  be  in  so  compara- 
tively short  a  period  as  we  view  time  in  the  lapse  of  the  ages. 
For  all  this,  we  may  thank  a  kind  and  overruling  Provi- 
dence, who  guided  our  forefathers  to  this  rich  heritage  and 
who  has  verified  to  us  as  citizens  of  this  commonwealth 
the  motto  of  our  beloved  state,  that  "He  who  has  brought 
over  will  sustain." 

In  view  of  these  advantages  that  have  accrued  to  us  and 
this  rich  heritage  that  has  been  bequeathed  to  us  from 
achievements  of  the  past  two  centuries,  a  great  obligation 
rests  upon  us  to  maintain,  foster  and  strengthen  the  privi- 
leges and  blessings  that  are  ours ;  and  this  can  best  be 


accomplished,  I  am  sure  you  will  agree  with  me,  by  pursu- 
ing the  same  course  and  living  up  to  the  same  high  stand- 
ards which  have  been  characteristic  of  our  forerunners — 
stimulating  patriotism  and  devotion  to  all  worthy  and 
national  and  state  purposes  and  causes,  being  lovers  of  good 
order  and  good  morals — always  assisting  the  weak  to  a 
higher  and  better  manhood  and  womanhood ; — and  in  this 
respect  we  should  not  forget  that  there  are  coming  to  our 
shores  thousands  yearly  who,  attracted  by  the  benefits  and 
privileges  this  country  affords  and  often  landing  at  our 
ports  with  an  exaggerated  and  false  idea  of  what  our  word 
liberty  means,  too  often  confounding  its  meaning  with  that 
of  license,  would  tend  to  disturbance  and  lawlessness — let 
us  by  contact  with  them,  by  forbearance,  patience  and  help- 
ful instruction  teach  what  our  liberties  really  mean,  as 
viewed  in  the  light  of  the  rights  of  the  individual  and  of 
property,  so  that  they  shall  never  be  a  menace  to  our  free 
institutions,  but  shall  rather  be  harmonized  to  our  ways  and 
become  a  part  of  our  liberty-loving,  loyal  people ;  and  who 
will  be  taught  with  us  to  hold  our  privileges  sacredly  and 
enjoy  them  with  due  respect  to  the  rights  of  others  as  law- 
abiding,  law-respecting  citizens. 

I  conceive  it  to  be  the  duty  of  every  loyal  citizen  of  the 
community  and  state  to  be  helpful  to  his  state,  country  and 
community,  to  have  a  loyal  and  devoted  zeal  in  their  best 
interests,  that  is  to  have  a  community  and  state  spirit  and 
pride  which  shall  desire  ever  and  always  that  they  shall 
advance  along  the  best  lines,  and  to  put  forth  earnest 
endeavor  persistently  to  this  end  and  not  spasmodically  when 
evil  threatens.  May  we  all  so  live  and  so  strive  and  so  attain 
that  our  day  and  generation  shall  leave  to  the  future  genera- 
tions equally  valuable  results  as  have  been  received  by  us 
from  the  past,  and  manifold  more  in  proportion  as  our 
advanced  and  bettered  condition  enables  us  to  give. 


Permit  me  in  closing  these  cursory  remarks  to  thank  my 
fellow  citizens  of  Newtown  for  their  cordial  invitation  to 
attend  this  very  interesting  anniversary,  and  to  say  to  you 
how  heartily  I  have  enjoyed  it,  and  to  wish  you  every 
blessing  and  all  prosperity  for  the  future. 


At  the  close  of  the  Governor's  address  the  Chorus  sang 
"March  of  the  Men  of  Columbia." 

In  introducing  the  next  speaker  the  President  of  the  day 
said: 

"We  have  in  the  past  sent  forth  men  of  intellectual 
ability  who  have  been  lights  in  the  professional  world. 
No  less  has  this  country  town  produced  men  of  business 
capacity  and  integrity.  When  we  can  trust  a  man  with  our 
pocket  books  we  must  have  a  high  sense  of  his  financial 
ability  and  that  rarer  character,  genuine  honesty.  To 
a  former  fellow-townsman  did  Uncle  Sam  at  one  time 
commit  his  purse.  I  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  the 
Honorable  Daniel  N.  Morgan,  former  Treasurer  of  the 
United  States." 

Prefacing  his  address  with  some  personal  reminiscences 
of  special  interest  to  the  older  persons  in  the  audience,  Mr. 
Morgan  spoke  as  follows : 


HOX.    DANIEL   N.    MORGAN 
Treasurer  of  the  United  States  under  President  Cleveland. 


ADDRESS 

HON.  DANIEL  N.  MORGAN,  BRIDGEPORT,  CONN. 


Mr.  President,  Friends  of  my  native  town  and  your 
Guests: — When  one  has  seen  two  generations  of  the  pano- 
rama of  life  move  rapidly  by,  that  "our  days  are  swifter  than 
a  weaver's  shuttle"  can  be  fully  realized.  Although  two 
centuries  have  elapsed  since  Newtown  began  its  existence 
with  forty-eight  square  miles  of  territory,  during  that 
period  its  history  entitles  it,  from  what  has  been  accom- 
plished by  its  God-fearing,  sturdy  inhabitants,  to  a  full  rec- 
ognition from  the  sister  towns  of  the  state.  It  has  been 
regarded  a  farming  town  that  would  well  repay  the 
husbandmen  for  their  efforts,  and  there  does  not  exist  in 
this  country  a  more  independent  class  of  citizens  than  the 
prosperous  and  contented  farmers.  Some  manufacturing 
has  been  carried  on  much  of  the  time  at  different  points. 
The  town  has  an  enviable  name  as  a  health  resort,  and  in 
the  years  gone  by  students  came  here  from  different  places 
of  the  Union  to  avail  themselves  of  the  school  privilege. 
In  its  earlier  history,  as  later,  it  had  its  men  of  note,  who 
were  reared,  educated  and  have  located  here  for  a  time, 
among  them  the  Rev.  Thomas  Toucey,  who  lived  in  1714, 
near  the  present  residence  of  Mrs.  Charles  H.  Peck. 
Oliver  Toucey,  Jr.'s,  home  was  at  the  homestead  of  the  late 
Charles  Morehouse.  Isaac  Toucey,  his  son,  was  Governor 
of  Connecticut  in  1846,  and  later  Attorney  General  and 
Secretary  of  the  United  States  navy.  Henry  Button  was 


—124— 

Governor  of  Connecticut  in  1854.  He  began  housekeeping 
in  the  house  located  on  what  is  now  known  as  the  Morgan 
homestead.  Rev.  John  Beach,  who  was  rector  of  Trinity 
parish  from  1732  to  1782,  lived  at  the  Harris  place  at  the 
foot  of  the  street.  The  donor  of  your  fine  library  building, 
Miss  Rebecca  D.  Beach,  is  a  descendant  of  that  noted  man. 
History  informs  us  that  Charles  R.  Sherman,  the  father  of 
Gen.  William  T.  and  John  Sherman,  and  Governor  Clark 
Bissell,  among  others,  pursued  their  study  of  law  here. 
The  late  Governor  of  Connecticut,  Luzon  B.  Morris,  was  a 
native  of  the  town,  and  you  must  all  regard  with  pride  that 
your  former  townsman,  Rev.  Frederick  F.  Johnson,  has 
recently  been  elected  a  Bishop.  Leaving  this  interesting 
train  of  thought,  for  your  historians  have  presented  to  you 
many  valuable  facts  of  the  past  years,  allow  me  to  mention 
some  of  the  conditions  existing  in  my  own  day  and  genera- 
tion, noting  some  of  the  marked  changes.  If  Newtown 
could  proclaim  to  the  world  its  past,  what  has  transpired 
during  the  last  sixty  years,  worthy  of  mention,  and  in  the 
country  at  large,  which  has  in  a  measure  revolutionized  the 
living  in  this  agricultural  town,  what  a  wonderful  story  it 
would  unfold.  Permit  me  to  digress  a  moment,  as  it  is 
most  interesting  to  me  to  state  that  the  lady  who  was  my 
first  school  teacher  in  the  Flat  Swamp  district  when  I  was 
three  years  old  fifty-seven  years  ago,  is  now  living  in 
Bridgeport,  and  two  more  of  my  lady  teachers  before  I  was 
ten  years  of  age  are  now  living  in  Newtown,  one  of  them 
of  a  family  of  five  sisters  and  brothers,  relatives  of  the 
late  Gov.  Isaac  Toucey,  now  living  together  at  the  old 
home,  who  were  the  long  ago  neighbors  of  my  father's 
family. 

Having  learned  all  the  mysteries  of  farming  and  mer- 
chandising as  then  conducted,  it  was  evident  in  those  days 
what  it  meant  to  exchange  all  that  could  be  spared  from  the 
farms  for  the  articles  needed  from  the  stores. 


Barter  was  the  principal  basis  of  trade  for  the  merchants, 
and  they  in  turn  must  send  it  to  the  cities  and  with  the  pro- 
ceeds purchase  supplies  for  replenishing  their  stock.  I 
recall  that  one  year  175  bushels  of  chestnuts  were  sent 
from  the  store  at  Morgan's  Four  Corners  to  Bridgeport,  16 
miles  distant,  to  be  sold  in  New  York  at  one  dollar  a  bushel, 
and  the  clerks  who  had  to  keep  shoveling  them  over  and 
over  to  prevent  their  spoiling,  never  forgot  their  experience. 
All  goods  bought  out  of  town  prior  to  any,  or  limited  rail- 
road facilities,  necessitated  long  hauls.  There  is  no  ques- 
tion that  there  were  one  hundred  cents  in  every  dollar  made. 
Hats,  combs  and  buttons  were  among  the  articles  manufac- 
tured hereabouts,  and  those  industries  brought  some  cash 
into  circulation  in  shillings  and  sixpences,  besides  the 
United  States  coins  and  the  bills  of  the  state  banks.  Busi- 
ness methods  have  changed  since  my  long  past  experience 
in  clerking,  so  that  clerks  now  in  the  stores  in  town  cannot 
enjoy  such  pastimes  as  weighing  many  things  with  the  old 
time  steelyards,  or  digging  out  the  dark  yellow  sugar  from 
a  great  hogshead  and  then  grinding  it  in  a  mill.  Neither 
can  they  get  up  long  before  day  of  a  winter's  morning  to 
see  a  drove  of  fat  cattle  being  driven  to  the  New  York 
market  by  the  then  well  known  drovers,  Lemuel  and  Her- 
mon  Beers.  We  recall  that  the  late  Henry  Beers  in  the 
war  days  sold  $10,000  worth  yearly  of  beef  cattle.  They 
will  not  see  the  droves  of  cattle  in  great  numbers  as  were 
then  brought  to  the  town  to  be  fattened  in  the  fertile  fields 
where  one  steer  could  thrive  on  one  acre  of  grass.  The 
buying  of  poultry  was  done  on  a  large  scale  by  well  known 
dealers,  and  the  trading  in  horses  had  no  limit.  The  mer- 
chant of  to-day  does  not  watch  for  the  delivery  of  the 
Bridgeport  Weekly  Farmer  and  Standard  to  be  brought  to 
the  store  for  a  few  subscribers,  when  the  limited  amount  of 
news  then  procurable  was  awaited  for  and  read  with  avid- 
ity. If  you  wished  the  correct  time  from  the  watchmaker, 


—126— 

set  by  the  sun  dial,  you  went  to  Uncle  Ziba  Blakeslee's,  at 
the  head  of  the  street,  for  it.  He  advertised  his  business  in 
the  Farmer's  Journal,  then  at  Danbury,  in  December,  1792. 
The  Bridgeport  papers  informed  us  that  P.  T.  Barnum 
took  Tom  Thumb  to  Europe  in  1844,  also  that  the  first 
telegraphic  dispatch  was  sent,  May  24,  1844,  from  Wash- 
ington to  Baltimore,  Maryland,  by  Prof.  Daniel  F.  B. 
Morse,  the  inventor,  in  these  words,  "What  hath  God 
wrought."  Always  regarded  as  a  wonderful  invention, 
Newtown  has  enjoyed  the  great  conveniences  pertainirg  to 
telegraphy  and  the  more  recent  achievements  now  in  vogue 
of  telephones,  wireless  telegraphy  and  electricity  in  its 
manifold  workings,  with  its  indefinable,  immeasurable 
power  and  scope,  which  places  you  in  touch  with  the  whole 
civilized  world.  With  access  to  all  the  dailv  papers  far  and 
near,  you  value  your  industrious,  news-gathering,  wide- 
awake Newtown  Bee,  edited  and  issued  since  June  27,1877, 
right  at  home,  which  is  certainly  a  credit  and  benefit  to  the 
town.  With  the  railroad  facilities  so  fully  developed,  since 
the  Housatonic  railroad  traversed  through  the  town  in  1840, 
and  was  followed  by  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hart- 
ford in  1848,  you  are  given  extended  transportation  through 
and  beyond  the  state.  The  latter  corporation  has  now 
absorbed  all  the  railroads  in  the  state  and  might  properly 
be  called  the  New  York  and  New  England.  What  changes 
it  has  wrought  for  a  town  like  this  as  an  outlet  to  the 
whole  world! 

The  lines  of  life  have  had  a  marked  transition  from 
those  existing  two  generations  ago.  The  goods  manufac- 
tured here  have  the  whole  country  for  a  market.  The  sur- 
plus of  crops  and  stock  derived  from  your  farms  is  readily 
disposed  of  near  by,  and  doubtless  at  satisfactory  prices 
You  depend  on  the  railroads  to  bring  to  your  doors  your 
coal  as  needed,  the  kerosene  oil  instead  of  whale  oil  or 
candle  as  of  yore,  the  flour,  the  grain,  and  much  of  the 


—127— 

beef  and  other  meats  used,  without  enumerating  other  pro- 
visions and  many  other  articles  from  the  long  list  of  the 
necessities  of  life  as  they  are  generally  regarded  to-day, 
which  were  deemed  luxuries  within  the  time  just  mentioned. 
I  believe  fully  the  statement  that  it  requires  about  four 
times  the  amount  called  for  a  half  century  ago  for  the 
multitude  of  the  fairly  well-to-do  people  to  live  on  in  these 
days.  That  is,  what  were  deemed  luxuries  then  we  all 
consider  necessities  now.  Money  at  interest  does  not 
return  more  than  half  the  interest  it  did  then. 

With  the  changes  and  vicissitudes  to  which  the  town  has 
been  subjected  it  has  stood  the  test  well,  and  without  ques- 
tion this  home  gathering,  most  hospitable  occasion,  will 
arouse  new  interest  and  ambition  for  a  continuing  pros- 
perous future,  so  that  the  patriotic  spirit  for  your  native 
or  adopted  town  will  thoroughly  pervade  your  minds  and 
feelings.  I  trust  that  all  who  can  claim  Newtown  as  their 
birthplace  will  do  so  with  pride  and  pleasure,  as  it  is  my 
privilege  to  do.  I  realize  that  after  an  absence  from  among 
you,  as  a  resident,  for  thirty-six  years  I  come  as  a  stranger 
to  most  of  you.  Still  I  ask  you  to  remember  that  I  am 
always  interested  in  Newtown  and  its  residents,  and  wish 
for  you  each  and  all  a  full  measure  of  success  and  happiness 
in  the  coming  years. 


At  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Morgan's  address  the  President 
of  the  day  said: 

"During  the  intermission,  as  we  were  walking  about 
the  grounds,  I  overheard  one  of  our  ladies  belonging 
to  one  of  the  old  Newtown  families  enquire  of  a  fashion- 
ably dressed  young  lady  whom  she  had  just  met,  "Are 
your  family  early  settlers?"  "O  yes,"  was  the  prompt 
reply,  "Pa  always  pays  every  bill  on  the  first  of  the  month." 


—128— 

There  are  some  who,  though  not  Newtown  born,  have 
generously  helped  this  celebration  in  advance, — which  is 
even  better.  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  introduce  one 
who  is  not  only  a  generous  public-spirited  gentleman,  but 
well  remembered  here  as  a  successful  medical  practitioner, 
Dr.  W.  C.  Wile,  of  Danbury." 

After  telling  some  apt  and  taking  stories,  the  Doctor 
delivered  the  following  address : 


DR.    WILLIAM    C.   WILE 
Editor  of  the  New  England  Medical  Monthly. 


ADDRESS 

DR.  W.  C.  WILE,  DANBURY. 


Had  I  the  gift  of  choosing  words,  and  the  power  of 
knitting  those  words  into  such  pregnant  and  polished 
phrases  as  my  distinguished  and  good  friend,  Governor 
Roberts,  has,  I  might  be  able  to  properly  present  to  you  the 
thoughts  that  lie  deep  down  in  my  heart  on  this  memorable 
occasion.  That  I  am  glad  to  be  here  is  evidenced  by  my 
presence.  I  am  delighted  to  be  home  again  and  mingle  with 
those  of  you  who  still  live  in  dear  old  Newtown  and  to 
assist  those  who,  like  myself,  have  returned  to  help  you 
to  fittingly  celebrate  the  two  hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
purchase  of  these  grand  hills  and  beautiful  valleys  from  the 
Indians.  That  we  are  having  the  time  of  our  lives  goes 
without  saying,  for  the  hospitality  of  your  citizens  is  pro- 
verbial, and  is  of  the  most  open-handed  kind. 

We  come  back  to  you,  older  and,  we  hope,  better  men. 
Some  of  us  have  been  shorn  of  our  fleecy  locks  so  closely 
that  an  Indian  of  1705  might  think  that  we  had  met  some 
hostile  tribe  and  that  our  scalps  were  hanging  from  the 
belt  of  some  friendly  Indian ;  while  we  all  have  grown 
grey — and,  barring  the  ladies,  grown  older. 

For  sixteen  years  I  resided  in  your  midst  ministering  to 
your  physical  wants,  while  the  clergy  were  looking  after 
your  spiritual  ones.  Which  was  the  most  successful  I  am 
afraid  we  shall  have  to  leave  to  the  decision  of  St.  Peter  at 
a  later  date.  That  we  all  tried  to  do  our  duty  to  you,  I  am 
quite  sure  you  will  all  admit. 


—130— 

In  going  through  the  town,  almost  every  house  I  passed 
recalled  some  detail  of  my  experience,  for  the  doctor  stands 
high  in  the  estimation  of  your  people ;  and  it  was  always  a 
pleasure  as  well  as  a  duty  to  serve  you.  That  I  often  failed, 
the  well-filled  cemeteries  show,  alas,  too  well.  In  looking 
over  this  vast  sea  of  faces  before  me  to-day,  my  heart  comes 
quickly  to  my  throat  when  I  think  of  those  who  have  gone 
from  us — the  genial  Aaron  Sanford,  Dr.  Judson,  Dr. 
Bennett,  Dr.  Graves,  William  Sanford,  and  a  host  of  others 
who  have  been  gathered  to  their  fathers.  I  hope  that  those 
of  us  who  went  away  and  have  come  back  to  Newtown 
again,  have  come  back  better  men,  stronger  and  truer  citi- 
zens. Of  one  thing  rest  assured,  we  come  with  our  hearts 
filled  to  overflowing  for  home,  the  dear  old  home. 

God  bless  you  all !  May  your  health  and  prosperity  keep 
pace  only  with  your  wishes,  and  the  end,  when  it  does  come, 
as  it  must  to  us  all,  may  it  find  us  all  prepared,  and  may  it 
come  peacefully  and  painlessly. 

Standing  here,  on  this  great  anniversary  at  the  very 
beginning  of  the  century,  it  is  impossible  that  one  shall  not 
look  back,  and  equally  impossible  that  one  shall  not  look  for- 
ward. We  are  just  at  the  close  of  what  we  call,  and  call 
rightly,  a  century  of  great  achievements.  We  pride  our- 
selves upon  the  work  this  country  has  accomplished.  We 
point  to  a  government  based  upon  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned, such  as  the  world  has  never  seen ;  wealth  which  has 
been  piled  up  such  as  no  country  has  ever  attained  within 
that  time,  or  double  or  quadruple  that  time.  It  is  such  a 
condition  of  life  as  never  existed  in  any  other  country. 
From  Mount  Desert  to  the  Golden  Gate,  yes,  from  the 
islands  which  Columbus  saw,  thinking  he  had  found  the 
East  Indies  themselves,  where  even  as  I  speak  the  flag  is 
planted,  our  possessions  and  our  wealth  extend. 

We  have,  though  following  the  arts  of  peace,  an  army 


ready  to  rise  to  the  sound  of  the  bugle  greater  than  Rome 
was  able  to  summon  behind  her  golden  eagles. 

We  are  right  to  call  it  a  century  of  achievement.  We 
pride  ourselves  upon  it.  Now,  who  achieved  that?  Not 
we,  personally;  our  fathers  achieved  it;  your  father  and 
my  father;  your  fathers,  when  they  left  England  and  set 
their  prows  westward  and  landed  upon  the  rock-bound 
coast ;  when  they  drew  up  the  compact  of  civil  government, 
which  was  a  new  thing  in  the  history  of  the  world,  and  when 
the  time  came  they  staked  all  they  had  upon  the  principle  of 
a  government  based  only  upon  the  consent  of  the  governed. 

We  pride  ourselves  upon  the  fact  that  we  can  worship 
God  according  to  the  dictates  of  our  own  conscience.  And 
they  left  us  an  heritage,  and  it  has  brought  forth  abun- 
dantly. 

I  say  this  to  draw  clearly  the  line  between  mere  material 
wealth  and  that  which  is  the  real  wealth  and  welfare  of  a 
people.  We  are  rich,  but  our  fathers  were  poor.  How 
did  they  achieve  it?  Not  by  their  wealth,  but  by  their 
character — by  their  devotion  to  principle.  The  best  thing, 
I  think,  that  the  fathers  left  the  country  was  character. 
That  is  indeed  the  heritage  they  left  us.  Wealth  will  not 
preserve  that  which  they  left  us ;  not  power,  not  "dalliance 
nor  wit"  will  preserve  it;  nothing  but  that  which  is  the 
spirit  will  preserve  it ;  nothing  but  character. 

The  whole  story  of  civilization  speaks  this  truth  with 
trumpet  voice.  One  nation  rises  upon  the  ruins  of  another 
nation.  It  is  when  Sampson  lies  in  the  lap  of  Delilah  that 
the  evening  steals  upon  him  and  ensnares  him;  binds  him. 

I  have  no  fear  of  the  future.  I  think,  looking  around 
the  country  at  present,  that  even  if  it  would  seem  to  us  at 
times  that  there  are  gravest  perils  which  confront  us,  that 
even  though  there  may  be  evidence  of  weakening  in  our 
Christianity,  notwithstanding  this,  I  say,  I  believe  that  the 
great  Anglo-Saxon  race,  not  only  on  this  side  of  the  water, 


—132— 

but  on  the  other  side  also,  contains  elements  which  alone 
can  continue  to  be  the  leader  of  civilization,  the  elements 
of  fundamental  power,  abiding  virtue,  public  and  private. 

Wealth  will  not  preserve  a  state ;  it  must  be  the  aggrega- 
tion of  individual  integrity  of  its  members  that  shall  pre- 
serve it.  That  integrity  I  believe  exists,  deep-rooted  among 
our  people. 

I  am  glad  to  be  here  where  you  have  the  greatest  Ameri- 
can achievements,  this  American  home  and  this  American 
spirit. 

May  it  always  be  kept  pure,  and  always  only  at  the  right 
fountains  have  its  strength  renewed. 


After  Dr.  Wile's  address  the  President  of  the  day  said: 

"Newtown  has  sent  out  a  number  of  men  distinguished  in 
the  legal  professions  and  in  public  life.  We  have  one  such 
with  us  to-day,  who  sometimes  returns  to  breathe  the  New- 
town  air.  We  are  glad  that  he  and  his  gracious  lady, 
herself  a  native  of  Newtown  and  distinguished  among  the 
women  of  the  State,  still  retain  a  home  among  us,  though 
their  life  is  mostly  spent  elsewhere.  I  knew  the  Judge 
long  before  I  knew  Newtown.  In  his  own  town  I  knew  him 
as  the  leading  and  most  public-spirited  citizen,  a  lawyer  of 
wide  reputation,  and  a  just  and  fearless  judge.  He  is 
full  of  the  memories  of  the  old  town  and  its  men  who  have 
made  their  mark  in  the  world.  I  am  sure  we  shall  hear 
from  him  much  that  is  of  interest  on  this  historic  occasion. 
The  Honorable  Charles  H.  Briscoe,  formerly  Speaker  of 
the  Connecticut  House  of  Representatives." 


HON.    CHARLES    H.   BRISCOE 
ix-Speaker  of  Connecticut  House  of  Representatives. 


ADDRESS 

THE  HON.  CHARLES   H.   BRISCOE 


Judge  Briscoe,  in  expressing  his  interest  in  the  town  and 
its  celebration,  was  struck  by  the  passing  away  of  many  of 
his  contemporaries,  some  by  removal  and  some  by  death. 
Newtown  was  his  native  place  and  the  home  of  his  ancestors, 
being  descended  from  Nathaniel  Briscoe,  one  of  the  early 
settlers.  The  old  homestead  stood  near  the  village  cemetery 
and  a  part  of  the  cellar  wall  can  still  be  seen  near  the 
highway. 

In  regard  to  this  old  Indian  deed,  he  said  he  was  glad 
that  his  ancestors  did  not  participate  in  that  original  bargain. 
It  was  a  shame  how  much  the  white  men  got  for  so  little. 

Referring  to  the  great  men  the  town  had  produced,  he 
mentioned  Isaac  Toucey,  Governor,  Secretary  of  the  United 
States  Navy,  and  Attorney  General  of  the  United  States. 
Of  Charles  Chapman,  who  was  born  on  the  ground 
where  the  Episcopal  rectory  now  stands  and  who  died  in 
1869,  he  said,  he  was  a  great  lawyer,  a  man  who  could  sway 
audiences,  juries  and  legislatures.  Asa  Chapman,  Judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  had  a  law  school  here,  where  many 
had  a  preparation  for  a  successful  career  at  the  bar. 

In  regard  to  the  changes  of  population,  he  said,  when  he 
was  a  boy  there  was  but  one  Irishman  in  town,  Daniel 
Quinlivan,  the  first  of  that  large  migration  which  to  many 
at  the  time  seemed  undesirable.  But  the  Irish  race  had  done 
a  large  and  useful  work  for  the  community,  and  were 
among  our  best  citizens.  This  was  a  lesson  to  us  in  regard 
to  the  way  in  which  we  should  look  at  the  element  which 


—134— 

was  now  coming  into  the  country,  the  Hungarian  and  the 
Slav.  We  should  have  faith  in  our  country  as  a  refuge 
for  the  oppressed  of  other  lands  and  believe  that  they  would, 
under  our  free  institutions,  be  assimilated  to  become  useful 
and  patriotic  citizens. 


The  Chorus  here  sang  "Home,  Sweet  Home,"  and  the 
President  of  the  day  said : 

"Of  the  younger  men  who  have  gone  from  Newtown 
and  are  doing  good  work  elsewhere  there  is  one  who 
will  be  well  received,  not  less  because  as  a  successful 
lawyer  he  is  carrying  out  the  good  principles  learned  here 
as  a  boy  than  because  he  is  a  son  of  one  who  for  near  a 
quarter  of  a  century  was  rector  of  Trinity  church.  That 
beautiful  structure,  the  pride  of  the  whole  town,  erected 
during  his  rectorship,  is  his  material  monument.  His  more 
enduring  monument  is  in  the  lives  and  hearts  and  memories 
of  his  people.  Mr.  Frederick  P.  Marble,  of  Lowell,  Mass." 


FREDERICK    P.    MARBLE 
Attorney  at  Law,  Lowell,  Mass. 

Son  of  Rev.  Newton  E.  Marble,  D.D.,  Rector  of  Trinity  Church,  Newtown, 
from  April,  1857,  to  September,  1878. 


ADDRESS 

FREDERICK  P.  MARBLE,  LOWELL,  MASS. 


Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  and,  I  trust  I  may 
be  permitted  to  add,  in  addressing  a  great  many  of  you, 
Old  Friends  and  Neighbors: — I  do  not  know  that  I  ever 
felt  more  embarrassment  in  speaking  on  a  public  occasion 
than  to-day,  excepting  perhaps  some  twenty-five  or  thirty 
years  ago,  when  on  Friday  afternoons  in  the  old  Academy 
building  which  stood  then  on  the  Street,  I  used  to  rise  from 
my  seat  and  with  faltering  steps  ascend  the  platform,  and 
in  a  somewhat  weak  and  piping  voice  exhort  my  fellow 
students  to  "strike  until  the  last  armed  foe  expires,"  or 
declaim  some  equally  stirring  phillipic.  But,  however  diffi- 
dent I  may  feel  as  a  "prophet  in  my  own  country,"  I  shall 
not  let  it  prevent  my  expressing  in  a  few  words  the  very 
great  gratification  it  affords  me  to  be  here  to-day  to  join 
with  you  in  commemorating  a  very  important  and  interest- 
ing occurrence  in  the  history  of  our  good  old  town.  The 
value  of  such  celebrations  is  not  measured  alone  by  their 
historical  interest,  though  that  indeed  is  great,  and  I  am 
sure  that  we  who  have  listened  to  the  scholarly  and  thought- 
ful addresses  just  delivered  have  learned  much  before 
unknown  of  the  history  and  growth  of  our  town,  and  that 
much  of  value  will  consequently  be  perpetuated  and  pre- 
served which  might  otherwise  be  lost  in  the  lapse  of  time. 
Useful  as  these  occasions  are  in  awakening  and  reviving 
an  interest  in  the  things  of  the  past,  I  believe  they  have  still 
10 


-136- 

greater  importance  in  that  they  stir  up  and  promote  public 
spirit,  or  civic  pride,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  and  stimulate 
movements  in  the  line  of  material  progress  and  improve- 
ment. 

One  of  the  previous  speakers  has  alluded  in  a  rather 
quizzical  way  to  some  of  the  things  which  Newtown  lacks. 
It  is  nearly  twenty-five  years  since  I  have  been  able  to  spend 
much  time  here,  and,  perhaps  for  the  very  reason  of  my 
long  absence,  changes  strike  me  more  sharply  than  those 
who  have  been  here  during  their  progress;  certainly  I  see 
many  changes  that  add  much  to  the  natural  beauty  and 
attractiveness  of  the  town.  Let  me  mention  a  few  things 
that  Newtown  has  and  may  have  a  just  pride  in  having. 
As  I  remember  our  library,  it  consisted  of  a  few  volumes 
which  were  kept  at  the  house  of  its  faithful  custodian,  Miss 
Charlotte  Nichols.  Now  by  the  generous  gift  of  a  bene- 
factor of  the  town  a  beautiful  and  artistic  Memorial  Library 
contains  a  choice  collection  of  books,  which  grows  con- 
stantly in  size  and  value.  In  the  old  days  the  Newtown 
Academy  dragged  along  a  rather  lingering  existence — I  do 
not  wish  to  disparage  what  it  did,  for  it  accomplished  much 
good,  though  oftentimes  receiving  but  scant  support — now 
you  have  what  all  towns  ought  to  have,  a  High  School  sup- 
ported by  the  town  itself  and  open  without  charge  to  the 
children  of  every  citizen,  and  doing,  as  I  am  told,  most 
efficient  work  under  its  able  principal  and  earnest  teachers. 

The  public  press  is  represented  among  you  by  a  paper, 
the  Bee,  which  in  the  field  it  covers  is  indeed  unique  in 
journalism.  A  power  for  good,  its  influence  is  felt,  not 
alone  in  this  immediate  community,  but  throughout  the 
entire  State,  and  its  success  is  a  monument  to  what  tireless 
industry  will  accomplish.  This  park  or  public  ground, 
which  affords  a  meeting  place  to-day ;  your  streets  once 
bordered  by  unsightly  weeds,  to  which  green  lawns  now 
slope  down;  rough  and  treacherous  foot-paths,  now 


—137— 

replaced,  at  least  in  the  main,  by  firm  and  even  walks ;  these 
and  many  other  changes  in  the  last  few  years  show  progress 
and  that  spirit  of  interest  in  public  affairs  which  argues  well 
for  the  future  of  the  town. 

I  want  to  congratulate  your  Committee  and  those  who 
have  had  a  part  in  preparing  this  really  magnificent  celebra- 
tion. It  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  attend  a  number  of 
such  occasions  and  I  never  have  seen  one  which  showed 
a  more  careful  and  painstaking  working  out  of  all  its 
details,  and  the  clockwork  precision  with  which  it  has  been 
carried  out  shows  an  amount  of  hard  work  and  interest  and 
enthusiasm  which  is  really  fine.  The  beautiful  decorations 
throughout  the  town,  the  procession  with  its  gay  colors, 
music,  and,  most  attractive  of  all,  the  bright  faces  of  the 
children,  and  the  presence  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the 
State  and  many  distinguished  visitors,  make  this  a  most 
memorable  occasion.  Newtown's  doors  stand  wide  open  to 
her  returning  children  and  all  are  welcomed  with  a  cordial 
and  gracious  hospitality. 

As  I  stand  here  to-day  I  cannot  but  have  very  much  in 
mind  my  father,  who  came  among  you  as  a  stranger  many 
years  ago,  but  in  making  this  his  home  learned  to  love  these 
green  hills  and  quiet  valleys  better  than  any  other  spot  on 
earth,  and  whose  declining  years,  when  the  infirmities  of 
age  came  on,  were  cheered  and  brightened  by  much  of  true 
friendship  and  neighborly  kindness.  Newtown  is  still  the 
home  of  my  revered  mother,  and  to  me  full  of  memories 
of  a  happy  boyhood.  You  will  not  wonder  that  it  has  a 
place  very  near  to  my  heart,  that  all  that  concerns  its 
advancement  and  improvement  is  of  interest  to  me,  and 
that  it  gives  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  be  here  to-day  and 
have  this  opportunity  of  expressing  my  loyalty  to  my  native 
place  and  my  interest  in  its  progress  and  prosperity. 


-138- 
The  President  of  the  day: 

"At  the  recent  commencement  of  Trinity  College  I  met 
a  gentlemen  who  bears  a  name  so  familiar  in  this  town 
that  I  was  led  to  enquire  whether  he  had  relatives  living 
here.  I  found  that  he  was  of  Newtown  stock,  and  his 
grandfather  was  next  neighbor  to  the  rectory,  in  which 
I  live.  From  his  modest  demeanor  I  did  not  suspect  him 
of  greatness,  but  invited  him  to  come  to  our  celebration 
as  a  descendant  of  Newtown.  Later  in  the  day  I  heard 
his  name  mentioned  among  those  of  whom  the  College  is 
proud  as  a  Professor  of  Law  in  Yale  University.  I  have 
the  pleasure  of  introducing  Professor  George  E.  Beers,  of 
New  Haven." 


GEORGE   E.    BEERS 
Professor  in  the  Law  School  of  Vale  University. 


ADDRESS 

GEORGE  E.  BEERS,  NEW  HAVEN. 


A  previous  speaker  has  referred  in  touching  language 
to  the  feast  to  celebrate  the  Prodigal's  return  and  has 
spoken  of  the  fatted  calf,  as  the  only  being  present  not  in 
full  sympathy  with  the  occasion  and  not  in  a  frame  of  mind 
thoroughly  to  enjoy  it.  One  whose  invitation  to  say  a 
word  has  reached  him,  owing  to  a  vacation  absence,  towards 
the  close  of  the  eleventh  hour,  is  perhaps  as  well  fitted  as 
any  one  else  to  appreciate  the  feelings  of  that  involuntary 
guest  and  sympathize  with  him.  In  spite  of  this,  however, 
I  cannot  utterly  refuse  your  kind  although  somewhat  dis- 
quieting invitation,  even  though  I  must  confine  myself  to 
the  thought  or  two  lying  uppermost  in  my  mind. 

I  am  at  some  loss  as  to  how  to  identify  myself  with  this 
occasion.  Your  programme  announces  short  addresses  by 
guests  and  former  residents,  and  I  am  neither.  I  was  never 
technically  a  resident  of  Newtown  and  yet  I  have  spent 
too  many  weeks  and  months  here  during  a  considerable 
term  of  years,  too  many  of  my  boyhood  memories  are 
identified  with  my  father's  home,  it  is  too  full  of  family 
associations  for  me  to  be  content  to  respond  to  the  kind  but 
formal  call  for  guests.  I  enter  your  hospitable  borders 
with  none  of  the  feelings  of  a  stranger  or  a  stepson  and 
none  of  the  sensations  of  one  on  a  visit  to  his  mother-in-law. 
I  do  not  presume  to  claim  a  son's  rights  and  yet  as  my 
grandfather  and  great-grandfather  and  many  of  my  earlier 


— 140 — 

ancestors  were  among  your  citizens,  I  can  but  look  upon 
your  kind  greeting  as  a  sort  of  welcome  to  a  grandson. 

Your  chairman  in  calling  upon  me  has  referred  to  my 
residence  in  New  Haven  and  to  the  fact  that  a  part  of  my 
professional  work  is  in  connection  with  the  law  department 
of  Yale  University.  I  am,  of  course,  only  one  of  a  multi- 
tude of  men  of  Newtown  extraction  who  have  become  resi- 
dents of  New  Haven, — I  am  only  one  of  a  considerable 
number  of  New  Haven  lawyers  with  Newtown  antece- 
dents; I  am  not  even  the  first  practitioner  at  her  bar  to 
serve  upon  the  faculty  of  the  Law  Department  of  that 
ancient  university. 

I  believe  it  was  in  1837  that  Governor  Dutton,  the  grand- 
father of  one  of  my  brethren  at  the  New  Haven  bar  and  a 
colleague  upon  the  faculty,  Mr.  George  D.  Watrous,  left 
Newtown  and  the  office  where  my  grandfather  afterwards 
practised  for  so  many  years,  and  after  a  most  active  and 
distinguished  career  at  the  bar  in  Bridgeport  and  New 
Haven  became  professor  of  law  in  Yale  University.  The 
earlier  professional  years  of  Judge  Dutton  were  passed  in 
this  community,  where  there  are  even  now  many  among  you 
who  were  his  personal  friends.  His  later  reputation  as  a 
leader  of  the  bar  of  two  counties,  the  editor  of  Connec- 
ticut's legal  classic — Swift's  Digest, — a  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Errors,  and  Governor  of  the  State,  is  a 
matter  of  Connecticut  history. 

And  then  much  later  Johnson  T.  Platt,  who  unlike  Gov- 
ernor Dutton  was  Newtown-born,  went  to  New  Haven, 
engaged  in  practice  and  became  a  member  of  the  faculty  of 
the  Yale  Law  School.  Mr.  Platt  was  a  schoolmate  and 
early  companion  of  many  of  you.  While  a  boy  he  was  of 
delicate  constitution,  and  when  he  died  suddenly  in  1890, 
he  was  still  in  early  middle  life.  His  attainments,  however, 
were  of  a  high  order,  and  his  career  as  a  lawyer  an  unusu- 
ally active  and  successful  one.  Among  his  various  activi- 


—141— 

ties,  he  was  one  of  the  most  energetic  and  prominent 
members  of  the  American  Bar  Association,  Registrar  in 
Bankruptcy  and  Corporation  Counsel  of  New  Haven.  As 
Judge  Loomis  says  of  him  in  his  Judicial  History  of  the 
State:  "He  was  above  all  things  a  lawyer  and  was  proud 
and  fond  of  his  profession,  his  culture  and  reading  were 
exceptionally  broad  and  general,  his  interest  in  active  affairs 
was  most  practical."  To  one  who  was  his  pupil  and  who  at 
the  beginning  of  his  professional  life  cherished  his  friend- 
ship and  kindly  interest — all  the  more  valued  because 
shown  by  one  high  in  his  profession  to  a  beginner  who  had 
nothing  to  offer  in  return — I  seize  this  opportunity  to  pay 
a  tribute  to  his  memory.  Mr.  Platt  loved  Newtown.  He 
never  wearied  of  hearing  of  it  or  talking  of  it.  It  was  his 
ardent  wish  to  sometime  make  his  home  at  the  place  of 
his  birth,  but  it  was  not  to  be. 

So  that  I  am  the  third  in  the  line,  and  no  matter  how 
haltingly  or  at  how  great  distance  I  may  follow  in  the  foot- 
steps of  those  strong  men  of  Newtown,  I  am  sure  you  will 
not  blame  me  for  a  certain  pride  of  Newtown  ancestry,  of 
Newtown  descent,  as  I  think  of  myself  as  one  of  a  line  of 
Newtown  men  who  have  held  the  same  place  and  each 
according  to  his  talents,  whether  few  or  many,  done  the 
same  work. 

Others  have  spoken  of  Newtown's  contribution  to  the 
public  life  of  the  state  and  nation;  of  Isaac  Toucey,  per- 
haps her  most  eminent  citizen,  member  of  Congress,  gov- 
ernor, senator  of  the  United  States,  member  of  the  cabinet 
of  two  presidents,  one  of  the  few  men  who  have  declined  a 
seat  upon  the  Supreme  Bench  of  the  United  States ;  and 
of  scores  of  other  men  who  have  contributed  largely  to  the 
national  life. 

A  word  should  be  said  as  to  the  peculiar  debt  in  this 
respect  of  New  Haven  to  Newtown.  You  have  given  New 
Haven  hundreds  of  active,  public-spirited,  useful  citizens 


—142— 

and  several  of  her  most  distinguished  ones.  Charles  Chap- 
man— himself  a  son  of  our  eminent  citizen  of  Newtown, 
Judge  Asa  Chapman  of  the  Supreme  Court, — was  a  New- 
town  man.  While  his  life  was  principally  spent  at  Hart- 
ford, he  was  for  years  a  resident  of  our  city.  Distinguished 
as  a  member  of  Congress  and  at  one  time  district  attorney 
for  Connecticut,  he  was  principally  noted  as  one  of  the 
greatest  jury  lawyers  of  his  time.  No  less  discriminating 
a  judge  than  Governor  Hubbard  has  said  of  him:  "In  that 
most  difficult  of  all  professional  functions,  a  cross  examina- 
tion, he  was  not  only  distinguished,  he  was  consum- 
mate. *  *  *  But  after  all,  it  was  perhaps  in  the  summing 
up  of  a  case  to  the  jury  that  the  whole  range  of  his  faculties 
found  their  fullest  play.  In  the  ready  analyzing  of  a 
chaotic  mass  of  evidence,  in  the  skillful  selection  and  use  of 
materials,  in  the  orderly  and  logical  distribution  of  an  argu- 
ment, in  the  matchless  architecture  of  his  sentences,  in 
fertility  of  illustration,  in  vigor  of  attack  and  coolness  in 
retreat,  in  pungency  of  satire  for  his  adversaries  and  opu- 
lence of  wit  for  all,  both  friend  and  foe — in  all  these  he 
was  great,  in  some  of  them  he  had  no  superior,  in  few  of 
them  an  equal."  Governor  Luzon  B.  Morris,  for  many 
years  the  trusted  adviser  of  perhaps  more  widows  and 
orphans  than  any  other  man  in  our  city,  whose  son  is  to-day 
one  of  you  and  known  to  you  all, — for  many  years  judge 
of  probate,  was  a  Newtown  man.  And  I  might  go  on  call- 
ing the  roll  of  Newtown  men  living  and  dead  who  have  in 
the  past  and  present  contributed  largely  to  our  life  and 
prosperity. 

And  what  does  all  this  show  ?  It  is  surely  no  mere  acci- 
dent that  Newtown  youth  has  played  so  large  a  part  in  the 
history  of  the  state  and  nation.  Is  it  not  rather  that  life 
among  your  rugged  hills  and  pleasant  valleys  has  developed 
that  body,  that  brain,  that  character  which  are  needed  for 
the  world's  work? 


—143— 

A  good  many  jokes  to-day  have  been  pointed  by  that 
Indian  deed,  which  seems  to  record  the  exchange  of  a 
birthright  for  a  somewhat  indifferent  mess  of  pottage,  and 
one  of  my  friends  who  has  addressed  you,  in  particular,  has 
congratulated  himself  that  his  ancestors  did  not  have  the 
right  sort  of  shrewdness  to  enable  them  to  figure  in  that 
apparently  sharp  bargain.  But  after  all  did  the  Indians  do 
more  than  exchange  land,  which  they  did  not  need,  for 
shirts  and  other  things  which  they  did  need?  While  a  bar- 
gain that  does  full  credit  to  Yankee  thrift,  it  was  honestly 
made  and  as  in  the  case  of  similar  purchases  throughout 
Connecticut,  history  discloses  no  intimations  that  the  land- 
poor  Indians  were  not  abundantly  satisfied.  As  Mr. 
Atwater  has  said  in  his  History  of  New  Haven  Colony,  "at 
the  present  day  we  are  apt  to  think  that  the  sachems  sold 
their  land  for  a  ridiculously  small  price ;  but  one  who  atten- 
tively considers  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  the 
reservations  they  made,  the  protection  they  secured,  and  the 
opportunity  for  trade  afforded  by  the  English  settlement, 
will  perhaps  conclude  that  what  they  received  was  of 
greater  value  to  them  than  what  they  sold.  It  does  not 
appear  that  the  Indians  were  afterwards  dissatisfied  with 
the  terms  of  sale."  Even  if  after  the  knives  which  they 
received  were  dull,  lead  scattered  and  shirts  worn  out,  they 
became  discontented,  they  could  surely  console  themselves 
with  the  thought  that  what  they  sold  cost  them  little  and 
they  had  plenty  of  land  left.  So  that  it  would  not  seem 
that  the  pleasure  of  this  happy  occasion  should  be  marred 
by  any  qualms  of  conscience  on  this  score. 

Men  and  women  of  Newtown,  I  congratulate  you  upon 
this  magnificent  celebration,  so  wisely  conceived,  so  splen- 
didly executed.  It  is  fitting  that  at  this  point  in  the  life 
of  your  town  you  should  pause  and  look  back  and  recall 
the  ancient  days.  Pride  in  your  honorable  history  cannot 
fail  to  incite  you  and  those  who  shall  follow  you  to  noble 


—144— 

living  in  the  time  to   come.     May  honor  and  prosperity 
attend  your  ancient  town  as  the  years  and  centuries  roll  on ! 


The  President  of  the  day : 

"That  Newtown's  descendants  have  attained  fame  in 
other  than  the  learned  professions  or  in  business  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  we  have  with  us  to-day  one  who  in  the 
civil  war  fought  for  his  country  and  has  since  earned 
distinction  in  the  Navy  of  the  United  States.  It  is  with 
great  pleasure  that  we  welcome  Rear-Admiral  Franklin  C. 
Prindle,  of  Washington." 


FRANKLIN   C.    PRINDLE,   U.S.N. 
Rear  Admiral,  Retired. 


ADDRESS 

FRANKLIN  C.  PRINDLE,  REAR-ADMIRAL,  U.  S.  N. 


Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: — I  presume  it  is 
pretty  well  understood  that  naval  officers  are  not  given  to 
oratory,  or  much  speaking.  In  fact  they  much  prefer  to 
get  behind  their  guns  and  let  these  speak  for  them.  But 
there  are  no  big  guns  to  get  behind  here  to-day,  save  those 
who  have  preceded  me  on  this  platform  and  those  who  may 
follow.  Neither  is  there  need  for  any,  for  these  are  the 
piping  times  of  peace,  and  this  occasion,  one  for  friendly 
greetings,  glorification  and  rejoicing  over  the  happy  out- 
come of  the  old-time  bloodless  Indian  war.  And  do  not 
these  fair  ones,  who,  arrayed  in  white,  with  bright  and 
beautiful  faces,  grace  this  occasion  and  predominate  in  this 
assemblage,  inspire  us  as  white-winged  messengers  of 
peace !  And  we  are  assembled  to  celebrate  the  first  and  the 
last,  as  well  as  bloodless,  victory  of  our  ancestors  over  the 
Indians  two  hundred  years  ago,  when,  through  peaceful 
means,  this  territory  was  acquired  by  our  forefathers  for 
settlement  and  development. 

Now  I  am  not  a  Newtowner,  nor  a  son  of  a  Newtowner, 
nor  yet  even  a  grandson  of  a  Newtowner,  but  my  great 
grandfather,  Zalmon  Prindle,  was  born  here,  and  from  this 
town  he  enlisted  at  the  age  of  19,  in  the  service  of  the 
colonies  and  gave  more  than  six  years  of  his  young  manhood 
to  the  service  of  his  country  in  that  great  struggle  for  the 


— 146 — 

achievement  of  American  independence  which  we  are  proud 
to  call  the  American  Revolution. 

His  great  grandfather  in  turn,  Ebenezer  Prindle,  was,  I 
am  proud  to  say,  an  early  settler  and  one  of  the  original 
proprietors  of  Newtown,  and  more  or  less  prominently 
identified  with  its  early  history.  The  land  records  here  tell 
us  that  in  January,  1703, — two  hundred  and  two  years  ago — 
he  acquired  from  Lemuel  Eells  of  Mil  ford  all  the  latter's 
"right,  title,  and  interest  in  and  unto  a  place  called  Newtown, 
as  will  more  fully  appear  by  the  Grant  of  the  General 
Court ;"  from  which  it  \vould  appear  that  he  had  his  eye  then 
set  upon  the  entire  "place  called  Newtown"  as  a  fit  and 
needful  holding  for  himself  and  his  large  and  growing 
family ;  and  not  long  after  he  removed  here  from  Mil  ford. 

I  have,  therefore,  as  a  descendant  of  the  eighth  generation, 
a  lively  personal  interest  in  this  old  New-town,  to  which 
Ebenezer  came — as  indeed  a  very  new  town  to  him — two 
hundred  years  ago.  In  fact,  I  may  say  that  I  have  been 
waiting  for  two  hundred  years  for  an  opportunity  to  visit 
this  ancestral  town,  and  place  my  feet  upon  the  same  soil 
my  ancestors  tilled  and  trod  through  successive  generations, 
in  direct  line,  until  the  present  day,  when  some  of  whose 
descendants  continue  to  still  live  among  you. 

Then  as  this  day  was  fixed  upon  for  the  celebration  of 
the  bicentennial  of  the  original  purchase  of  the  land  from  the 
Indians,  I  was  reminded  of  the  fact  that  in  1711,  Ebenezer 
Prindle  was  appointed  at  town  meeting  a  surveyor  of  these 
very  lands  purchased  from  the  Indians ;  and  so  on  this 
account,  if  nothing  more,  I  had  a  great  desire  to  come 
up  here  and  see  what  sort  of  a  job  he  had  made  of  it,  and  I 
am  glad  to  find  that  his  work  appears  to  have  been  so  well 
done  that  some  of  his  descendants  were  left  upon  it  to  still 
remain  in  possession  and  occupation  to  this  day,  and  I  hope 
they  may  so  continue  for  another  two  hundred  years  to 
come. 


—147— 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war  it  appears 
that  several  Newtown  families  removed  to  the  still  newer 
town  of  Sandgate,  Vermont,  and  among  them  my  great 
grandfather,  Zalmon,  his  father  Joel,  his  uncle  Nathan,  and 
others.  That  then  became  the  place  of  my  birth  and  the 
home  of  my  childhood,  and  as  I  now  see  this  beauti- 
ful Newtown  I  am  wondering  what  possessed  those  good 
people  to  make  such  an  apparently  unfavorable  exchange 
of  location,  unless  it  was  through  the  operation  of  that  anti- 
race  suicide  sentiment  and  practice,  then  more  prevalent  than 
now,  which  called  for  more  room  for  occupation  and  expan- 
sion. At  any  rate  I  will  not  now  dare  to  trust  myself  to 
express  an  opinion  as  to  their  judgment  in  exchanging  these 
lands,  so  fair  to  look  upon,  for  that  rugged  hill-country  so 
fittingly  described  by  some  one  who  has  written  : 

"Up  in  Vermont  where  the  hills  are  so  steep, 
The  farmers  use  ladders  to  pasture  their  sheep." 

But  I  must  not  longer  detain  you  at  this  late  hour,  further 
than  to  express  my  very  great  pleasure  in  being  able  to  be 
with  you  here  to-day,  and  for  the  first  time  in  two  hundred 
years !  May  I  not  also  follow  the  example  of  a  preceding 
speaker,  in  concluding,  by  offering  a  toast, — a  soldier's  and 
sailor's  toast,  if  you  please : 

"The  Ladies !   God  bless  them ! 
Our  arms  their  defense, 
Their  arms  our  recompense! 

Fall  in!" 


The  time  was  too  limited  to  hear  from  others  present 
who  would  have  added  interest  to  the  occasion,  but  the 
President  of  the  day  called  upon  Mr.  E.  C.  Beecher,  of 
New  Haven,  and  introduced  him  as  one  who  had  found 
his  wife  in  one  of  Newtown's  old  families,  and  so  could 


—148— 

be  at  least  called  a  son-in-law  of  Newtown  (he  married  a 
daughter  of  Mr.  Charles  Morehouse) ,  as  one  who  had 
shown  his  great  interest  in  the  celebration  by  his  substantial 
help.  He  closed  the  list  of  speakers  with  an  address  full 
of  bright  stories  and  witty  sayings. 

The  President  of  the  day,  after  congratulations  on  the 
successful  work  done  by  all  the  committees  and  by  the 
citizens  of  the  whole  town  who  had  risen  to  the  occasion 
with  unanimity  and  enthusiasm,  thanked  the  visitors  from 
abroad  for  their  presence  and  the  speakers  for  their  part 
in  making  the  occasion  so  full  of  interest,  as  well  as  the 
singers  who  had  contributed  so  much  to  render  it  inspiring ; 
and  expressed  the  hope  that  this  bicentennial  might  be  the 
beginning  of  a  more  devoted  public  spirit,  of  a  just  pride 
in  the  town's  history,  and  of  that  interest  in  its  present 
affairs  which  should  make  it  one  of  the  model  country  towns 
of  the  State,  as  nature  had  made  it  one  of  the  most  beautiful. 

The  Chorus  then  led  the  audience  in  singing  "America," 
and  the  benediction  was  pronounced  by  Rev.  Arthur  T. 
Parsons,  of  Thomaston,  a  native  of  the  town. 


DANIEL  G.   BEERS 
Chairman  of  the  Historical  Committee. 


THE  HISTORICAL  EXHIBIT 


Under  the  direction  of  the  committee  of  which  Mr.  D.  G. 
Beers  was  chairman,  there  had  been  arranged  in  the  main 
building  on  the  grounds  a  representation  of  the  domestic 
life  of  the  old  inhabitants  in  the  form  of  two  rooms, 
furnished  with  heirlooms  of  the  old  families. 

The  "best  room"  was  furnished  under  the  direction  of 
Mrs.  George  F.  Taylor,  and  mostly  with  articles  inherited 
from  her  mother's  mother,  who  was  a  Tomlinson.  Among 
these  was  an  old  piano,  and  a  mirror.  There  was  also  an 
old  calash,  and  a  cloak  with  an  interesting  history.  It  was 
made  of  wool  from  sheep  raised  on  her  great  grandfather's 
farm,  and  the  cloth  was  spun,  woven  and  made  on  the  farm. 
There  was  also  an  old  clock  furnished  by  Mr.  Nettleton,  and 
a  chair,  the  property  of  Trinity  parish,  which  was  brought 
from  England  by  the  Rev.  John  Beach  in  1732,  when  he 
returned  from  that  country  after  his  ordination. 

The  kitchen  was  arranged  under  the  direction  of  Mrs. 
S.  Grace  Glover,  with  the  assistance  of  the  other  members 
of  the  committee.  It  had  the  old  fashioned  fire-place,  with 
the  crane,  pots  and  oven,  iron  fire  dogs,  and  all  the  other 
paraphernalia.  There  was  a  flint  lock  musket  and  powder 
horn,  an  old  spinning  wheel,  reel  and  swift,  and  the  room 
was  adorned  with  strings  of  pepper  and  dried  apples. 
There  was  also  a  cradle  belonging  in  the  family  of  Mr. 
Theron  Platt,  and  many  other  relics  of  interest,  and  the 
exhibit  was  visited  by  a  large  number  during  the  noon 
intermission  and  throughout  the  day. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  exercises  on  the  Fair  grounds, 
a  large  part  of  the  vast  throng  left  the  place  to  return  to 


— ISO— 

their  respective  homes.  An  immense  number  came  from 
neighboring  towns  in  carriages  and  automobiles,  and  the 
Consolidated  Railroad  Company  furnished  special  trains 
which  accommodated  the  hundreds  which  came  from  a 
distance. 

The  sunset  gun  closed  the  day  but  opened  another  feature 
of  the  celebration.     A  crowd  of  3000  remained  to 


BAND  CONCERT  AND  FIREWORKS 


The  concert  began  at  eight  o'clock.  The  Woodbury  band 
was  stationed  south  of  the  liberty  pole  and  rendered  a  fine 
musical  programme.  A  splendid  display  of  fireworks  was 
shown  between  the  numbers  rendered  by  the  band.  These 
were  in  charge  of  Mr.  Herbert  Flansburg  and  his  assistants 
on  the  committee.  The  exhibition  closed  with  a  magnificent 
set  piece,  the  gift  of  Dr.  W.  C.  Wile.  The  piece  represented 
two  Indian  heads  with  the  figures  1705  between,  and  was  a 
brilliant  close  to  a  most  successful  day. 

After  the  fireworks  and  concert  an  additional  train  was 
run  by  the  railroad  company  to  Bridgeport  for  those  who 
could  not  remain  over  Sunday.  Besides  arranging  for  these 
special  trains,  Vice  President  Todd,  who  has  his  summer 
home  among  us  and  had  shown  his  interest  by  a  generous 
contribution,  added  in  other  ways  to  the  comfort  of  the 
people  and  their  sense  of  security  by  sending  to  the  town  to 
be  present  during  the  celebration,  the  chief  of  the  secret 
service  force  of  the  N.  Y.,  N.  H.  &  H.  R.  R.  Co.,  Mr.  James 
F.  Valley,  and  several  assistants.  These  served  to  keep 
away  from  the  town  all  crooks  and  evil  characters.  No 
fakirs  were  allowed  upon  the  grounds,  and  nothing  was 
lost  or  stolen.  There  was  no  need  to  keep  order,  for  all 


WILLIAM   A.    LEONARD 
Chairman  of  the  Fireworks  Committee. 


were  present  for  a  good  and  neighborly  purpose,  all  had  a 
genuine  interest  in  making  the  day  a  credit  to  the  town,  and 
what  is  more  remarkable  in  such  a  large  multitude,  there 
was  no  accident  to  mar  the  pleasure  of  those  gathered 
together.  With  her  children  old  and  young  assembled 
from  all  parts  within  her  borders,  with  her  many  other  sons 
and  daughters  returning  home,  with  distinguished  guests 
and  many  neighbors  to  rejoice  with  her,  and  with  a  kind 
Providence  to  bless  with  sunny  skies  and  avert  all  untoward 
injury,  the  old  town  had  probably  the  greatest  day  of  the 
two  hundred  years  of  her  history. 

Coming  as  the  anniversary  did  upon  Saturday,  with  many 
who  would  remain  to  spend  Sunday,  it  was  planned  to  make 
that  day  one  of  special  observance  in  the  churches  by 
appropriate  services  and  historical  sermons.  The  day  was 
thus  observed  in  the  two  oldest  parishes,  and  therefore  it 
was  thought  well  to  include  in  this  story  of  the  Bicentennial 
an  account  of  the  exercises  of  that  day. 


n 


THE   COMMEMORATION 

ON   SUNDAY,   AUGUST  6TH 


It  was  part  of  the  programme  of  the  Executive  Committee 
that  on  the  day  following  the  celebration  of  the  Bicentennial 
there  should  be  in  the  various  churches  in  the  town  such 
services  and  sermons  or  addresses  as  should  seem  best  to 
those  who  had  charge  of  them.  The  several  houses  of 
worship  that  day  had  large  congregations  composed  of  the 
regular  attendants  and  many  who  had  come  to  attend  the 
celebration.  It  was  a  welcome  opportunity  to  renew  sacred 
associations. 

In  the  Congregational  Church  the  services  recognized  the 
occasion  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barker,  the  pastor,  preached  a 
sermon  on  "The  New  England  Leaven." 


T 

i 


THE   CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCH. 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  LEAVEN 

A    SERMON   PREACHED  IN   THE    NEWTOWN   CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCH, 
SUNDAY   MORNING,   AUGUST  6TH,    IQO5 

REV.  OTIS  W.  BARKER 


Text — MATT.  13  :  33  :  "Another  parable  spake  He  unto  them,  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  leaven,  which  a  woman  took  and  hid 
in  three  measures  of  meal  till  the  whole  was  leavened." 

What  is  all  this  for  ?  Why,  for  these  last  few  days,  have 
we  been  indulging  in  decoration,  oratory  and  noise?  Have 
we  for  one  moment  stopped  to  consider  that  this  splendid 
celebration  would  mean  really  nothing  apart  from  our 
national  life?  We  cannot  pack  away  a  little  fragment  of 
this  great  country  and  label  with  some  local  names  and 
insignia  and  then  proudly  say,  "This  is  ours."  The  great 
stream  of  our  national  life  may  run  into  tiny  eddies  and 
miniature  bays,  but  the  strong,  swirling  current  rolls  majesti- 
cally on.  We  are  only  a  part  of  a  mighty  whole.  We 
can  only  have  a  celebration  like  this  because  we  have  some- 
thing to  celebrate;  and  that  something  is  not  a  date  so 
much  as  it  is  great  events  and  wonderful  destinies,  and  noble 
women  and  grand  men. 

It  is  said  that  millions  of  our  human  race  have  been  cursed 
by  their  ancestry.  Their  sires  lived  under  a  despotic 
government  where  they  were  made  to  serve  an  iron  will. 
The  later  generations  feel  the  poison  in  the  blood;  they 
come  into  the  world  all  back  head  and  no  forehead.  Not 
so  with  us.  We  have  come  of  a  godly  and  goodly  line. 


—154— 

Shall  these  children  know  from  these  anniversary  exercises 
from  what  worthy  stock  they  are  sprung?  Shall  they 
appreciate  what  it  means  to  be  the  logical  and  spiritual  heirs 
of  their  Puritan  forefathers?  That  is  the  question  which 
deeply  concerns  us  to-day.  Charles  Sumner,  the  great 
statesman,  when  speaking  at  a  New  England  dinner  in 
1873,  said,  as  he  looked  toward  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  sit- 
ting near  him:  "I  have  often  thought  that  if  it  had  been 
my  privilege  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  to  fill  a  pulpit  as 
grandly  as  you  have  done  yours,  I  would  sometime  take  the 
text,  'A  little  leaven  leaveneth  the  whole  lump';  and  speak 
of  the  great  influence  of  the  Puritans  in  the  history  of  our 
land."  You  see  I  have  not  followed  even  this  suggestion, 
coming  from  so  august  a  man,  because  when  Paul  uses 
these  words  he  uses  them  to  signify  the  leavening  power 
of  evil ;  but  no  influence  in  our  nation's  history  is  stronger 
for  good  than  that  of  the  noble  band  who  planted  firmly 
their  feet  on  Plymouth  Rock  on  one  wintry  day. 

A  great  problem  confronts  us  as  a  nation  just  now.  It 
is  this :  Shall  we  be  able  to  stem  the  flow  of  immigration 
that  is  now  so  strongly  setting  toward  these  shores?  Shall 
we  be  able  to  receive  it  into  our  nation's  life,  and  assimi- 
late it,  and  Americanize  it,  and  uplift  it  from  the  plane  of  the 
sty?  This  tide  in  the  last  fiscal  year  reached  high- water 
mark ;  more  than  a  milllion  souls  floated  here  with  the  flot- 
sam and  jetsam  of  the  waters.  Representatives  of  one,  or 
at  most  two,  nationalities  gathered  around  the  camp  fires 
of  the  Pilgrims ;  representatives  of  a  score  or  more  national- 
ities assemble  about  the  camp  fire  of  the  California  miners 
or  stroll  through  the  streets  of  our  western  towns.  A  score 
of  men,  Dr.  Strong  tells  us,  are  found  working  in  a  factory 
in  New  York  City,  who  are  come  here  directly  from  Haran, 
the  ancient  land  out  of  which  the  progenitor  of  the  Jewish 
race  was  called.  The  stream  of  the  nation's  life,  in  its 
flowing,  has  been  sadly  contaminated  since  the  Mayflower 


—155— 

days.  That  is  sure.  Is  the  current  which  these  worthy 
men  of  1621  set  moving  yet  so  strong  that  it  will  overpower 
all  counter  currents  that  seek  to  impede  its  course?  The 
characteristics  of  the  Puritan  are  strong,  impressing 
and  enduring.  Will  they  endure  through  all  the  years? 
"Histories  make  us  wise,"  says  Bacon.  "A  moral  and 
philosophical  respect  for  our  ancestors  elevates  the  charac- 
ter and  refines  the  heart,"  says  Webster;  and  no  one  can 
look  even  briefly  into  the  history  which  this  day  brings  to 
our  view  without  being  made  more  of  a  man,  a  nobler 
patriot,  and  taking  a  larger  grasp  on  the  work  which  this 
nation  has  been  ordained  of  God  to  do. 

What,  then,  are  the  characteristics  of  our  Puritan  sires, 
those  things  which  have  acted  as  leaven  in  the  nation's  life? 
A  striking  characteristic  is  this :  Our  Puritan  forefathers 
had  a  sublime  faith  in  God.  I  put  the  emphasis  upon  the 
adjective,  for  there  is  much  faith  in  God  which  scarcely 
means  any  faith  at  all.  The  Puritans  gave  large  place  to 
God.  They  read  His  majesty  in  the  clouds ;  His  power  in 
the  storm.  For  them  He  rode  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind 
and  trailed  the  shining  garments  of  His  glory  in  the  sun- 
bursts of  the  early  dawn.  They  emphasized  His  presence 
with  them.  He  went  forth  to  battle  with  their  armies.  He 
was  with  them  in  the  ploughing  of  the  fields,  in  the  harvest- 
ing of  the  grain,  in  the  keeping  of  the  humble  Puritan  home. 
In  these  days,  when  faith  seems  slipping  from  her  moorings, 
it  is  well  that  we  get  back  to  the  foundation  faith  of  our 
grandsires. 

They  believed  in  God.  It  is  said  that  they  believed  in  the 
God  of  the  Old  Testament  rather  than  in  the  God  of  the 
New.  In  the  literature  of  those  days  the  Puritan  was 
caricatured.  He  was  ridiculed  as  a  sallow-cheeked,  bigoted, 
narrow-minded  man.  The  epitaph  that  might  have  been 
written  on  his  tombstone  would  have  read  thus:  Born  in 
discouragement,  he  grew  up  in  dejection,  matured  in  depres- 


-156- 

sion  and  died  in  disgust.  We  must  not  harshly  criticise 
any  one  before  we  recognize  the  fact  that  every  one  is  a 
product  of  the  times  in  which  he  lives  and  of  the  conditions 
out  of  which  he  comes.  The  Puritan,  before  he  set  his 
foot  on  Plymouth  Rock,  had  just  thrown  off  the  tyranny 
of  prelate,  Church  and  State.  He  had  swung  far  away 
from  all  earthly  sovereignty,  and  as  always  happens  in  such 
cases,  he  swung  to  the  other  extreme  of  the  pedulum  and 
found  himself  emphasizing  alone  the  sovereignty  of  God. 
No  wonder  he  believed  in  the  God  of  the  old  Testament, 
the  God  who  thundered  his  mandates  from  Sinai  and 
overcame  the  prophets  of  Baal  with  the  descent  of  flame. 
In  this  soft  age,  when  it  is  often  inquired  whether  it  really 
makes  any  difference  in  what  a  man  believes,  it  is  well  to  go 
back  to  those  who  solidly  believed  in  a  God  of  law.  I  do 
not  think  that  the  theology  of  the  Pilgrim  rang  out  no  musi- 
cal tone  of  love,  or  that  amid  the  smoke  of  the  flaming  mount 
the  cry  was  lost  that  rose  from  bitter  Calvary. 

Those  who  sought  on  these  shores  "a  faith's  pure  shine" 
came  here  as  the  growth  of  two  hundred  years  of  changes 
that  were  wrought  on  European  soil.  There  had  been  the 
movement  called  the  Renaissance,  springing  out  of  the 
invention  of  the  printing-press,  and  there  had  been  the  move- 
ment called  the  Reformation,  the  product  of  the  translation 
of  the  Bible  into  the  speech  of  the  common  people.  These 
two  lines  of  life  converging  upon  the  Puritan  developed 
a  growth  that  could  not  flourish  in  a  fetid  atmosphere.  A 
new  land  was  necessary  where  the  tree  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty  could  flourish  and  throw  out  its  spreading  shade, 
and  that  land  was  here ;  and  here  it  took  form  in  what  has 
ever  been  known  as  the  New  England  conscience.  Do  you 
ask  me  by  what  phrases  I  would  characterize  the  Puritan 
ideals?  They  are  these:  The  Puritan  believed  in  the  stern 
righteousness  of  a  just  God.  He  believed  in  convictions 
of  duty  from  which  he  would  not  swerve  a  hair's  breadth; 


—157— 

he  believed  in  the  overrule  of  God  in  all  things,  making 
good  and  bad,  devil  and  saint,  bend  to  His  sovereign  will; 
he  had  a  vision  which  gave  him  glimpses  into  the  unseen 
and  opened  up  the  bourne  beyond  the  corridors  of  Time ; 
he  was  an  optimist  who  never  let  go  his  hope  that  the  worst 
would  swing  round  at  last  to  that  which  works  for  the  best. 
He  held  tenaciously  to  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  right. 
I  have  already  said  much  about  our  Puritan  forefathers ; 
you  might  almost  suspect  that  I  had  never  heard  that  there 
were  Puritan  foremothers,  too.  The  fathers  have  been 
feted  and  praised  too  much,  and  not  half  so  much  has  been 
said  as  is  their  due  for  their  wives,  their  better  halves.  It 
was  the  mother  who  when  she  was  placed  where  there  was 
no  sound  of  the  Sabbath  bell  gathered  her  children  about 
her  and  taught  them  the  Westminster  catechism.  She  made 
the  old  Psalms  of  David  ring  as  the  war  songs  of  old.  She 
read  the  Old  Testament  stories  to  the  troop  at  her  knee 
until  those  worthies  came  out  of  the  past  and  lived  before 
the  eye.  There  was  Elijah,  who  with  his  mantle  smote 
the  waters  back;  there  was  Moses,  whose  face  shone  as  he 
talked  with  God;  there  was  David,  who  charmed  the  hard 
Saul  with  the  music  of  his  harp ;  there  was  Samuel,  who  was 
left  in  the  temple  as  a  child ;  there  was  Hezekiah,  the  good 
king,  to  satisfy  whose  wish  the  shadow  went  back  on  the 
dial,  and  all  these  famous  men  became  as  familiar  to  the 
Puritan  child  as  the  playmates  with  whom  he  sported  before 
his  mother's  door.  You  cannot  understand  what  the  Puri- 
tan has  done  for  our  national  life  until  you  understand 
the  part  that  religion  played  in  their  common  life.  The 
meeting-house  was  next  to  their  home,  or  even  above  their 
home.  The  Sabbath  was  as  binding  in  its  obligations  as 
the  laws  on  the  tables  of  stone,  for  it  was  in  these  laws.  The 
Bible  was  their  vade  me  cum,  the  compass  by  which  they 
sailed  their  craft  and  the  lantern  by  which  they  guided 
their  way. 


-158- 

All  through  our  country's  history  the  line  of  their 
influence  runs  clearly  down.  We  see  it  in  the  struggle  of 
''76,  when  in  the  darkest  days  at  Valley  Forge,  Washington 
was  seen  at  midnight  on  his  knees  in  prayer.  We  see  it 
when  our  Continental  Congress  opened  as  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin, almost  the  last  of  the  great  men  of  the  early  days  to 
recognize  God's  control  in  human  affairs,  advocated  seeking 
the  blessing  of  God.  We  see  it  in  our  great  Declaration 
of  Independence,  which  reads :  "And  for  the  support  of  this 
declaration,  with  a  firm  reliance  on  the  protection  of  Divine 
Providence,  we  pledge  ourselves,  our  lives  and  our  sacred 
honor."  May  the  leaven  of  their  trust  in  God  go  on  with 
us  as  a  perennial  force  to  the  end  of  our  days.  A  striking 
characteristic,  too,  of  the  Puritan  was  that  he  could  endure. 
I  tell  you  this  soft  age  in  which  we  live  has  much  to  learn 
from  the  age  of  homespun.  Our  plainest  comforts  were 
their  most  extravagant  luxuries.  Do  you  think  that  it  was 
a  small  thing  for  them  to  decide  to  leave  their  own  land? 
If  it  had  been  to  an  Eden  they  were  coming  the  case  would 
have  been  different ;  but  how  inhospitable  were  these  shores ! 
They  were  striking  out  anew ;  they  were  burning  every 
bridge  behind  them ;  they  were  starting  entirely  new  desti- 
nies on  altogether  untried  lines.  And  here  again  the  praise 
that  is  due  the  Puritan  mother  has  not  been  paid.  Tell  me, 
was  the  voyage  across  the  waters  any  less  perilous  for  the 
one  whose  breast  stirred  with  deep  thoughts  as  her  stern 
lord  coldly  looked  at  the  sky?  The  fifty-six  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  well  knew  what  they  were 
taking  upon-  them ;  they  knew  that  liberty  must  win  or  they 
must  die.  One  of  their  number  hit  the  point  when  he  said : 
"And  now  we  must  all  hang  together,  or  else  we  shall  all 
hang  separately."  But  did  one  of  those  fifty-six  give  his  life 
for  his  convictions?  Not  one.  They  all  died  peacefully. 
How  many  of  that  Pilgrim  band,  tell  me,  perished  during 
that  first  bitter  winter?  Overcome  by  struggles  and 


—159— 

weakened  by  privation,  for  half  the  number  the  driven 
snow  became  their  winding-sheet  and  the  winds  howling 
through  the  naked  pines  sang  their  funeral  dirge;  and,  as 
it  always  is,  the  suffering  came  harder  upon  the  women  than 
upon  the  men.  It  was  not  so  much  the  wild  beasts  of  the 
forest  that  howled  about  the  door;  it  was  not  so  much  the 
Indian,  who  often  proved  terrible,  treacherous,  and  cruel ; 
it  was  not  so  much  these  things  that  made  the  heart  sick 
and  made  life  in  the  pioneer  wilderness  a  prolonged  round 
of  heroic  endurance,  as  the  utter  loneliness  and  exile  of 
those  who  had  left  the  best  in  life  across  the  stretch  of  waves. 
The  stars  of  the  winter's  night  looked  down  upon  them,  but 
they  were  so  cold  and  far  away.  The  winds  of  the  forest 
murmured  low  whisperings  about  their  dwellings,  but  they 
were  so  gloomy  and  chill.  The  waves  of  the  tossing  sea 
talked  in  hoarse  cadence  as  they  listened,  but  they  gave  forth 
no  syllable  of  love  and  echoed  no  sympathetic  tone.  Our 
luxuries  have  brought  us  into  effeminacy  and  love  of  ease ; 
we  delight  in  soft  things ;  we  do  not  dare  to  mount  the 
steeps.  We  wish  the  way  marked  clearly  out  before  us. 
If  this  age  is  to  leave  an  impress  upon  all  times  such  as  the 
Puritan  has  done,  if  it  is  to  take  the  strong  characteristics 
of  those  days  and  hold  them  steady  and  true  in  the  swirl 
of  currents  setting  all  the  other  way,  we  must  get  back  to  the 
grit  that  brooked  no  obstacle,  and  to  the  pluck  that  carried 
victory  in  the  very  doing. 

The  characteristic,  however,  which,  above  all  others, 
strikes  us  as  belonging  to  this  pioneer  age  is  the  love  of 
home.  The  Puritans  were  home-makers  and  empire- 
founders.  God  first  made  woman  because  it  was  found 
that  man  could  not  get  along  without  her,  and  woman  only 
reaches  her  completeness  when  the  union  of  the  strong  and 
the  gentle  qualities  is  made  in  the  establishment  of  a  home. 
No  nation  has  ever  yet  endured  which  has  neglected  this 
God-given  institution ;  and  this  nation  has  so  far  led  in  the 


— i6o— 

march  of  Time  because  its  foundation  pillars  were  three- 
fold, the  church,  the  schoolhouse  and  the  home. 

Did  you  ever  study  into  the  history  of  our  two  leading 
colonies,  the  one  founded  at  Jamestown  and  the  other  on 
Plymouth  Bay?  The  Virginia  colony  came  within  one  of 
being  an  utter  failure.  Did  you  ever  look  into  the  reason 
why?  The  Jamestown  colony  left  out  the  thought  home. 
It  was  one  hundred  and  two  old  bachelors  who  came  over 
here  and  settled  upon  the  river  James,  and  had  it  not  been 
for  Pocahontas  the  beautiful  Indian  maiden,  who  is  said 
to  have  saved  the  colony  by  supplying  them  with  provisions, 
and  had  it  not  been  that  twelve  years  after  they  landed  here 
their  mistake  was  discovered  and  one  hundred  beautiful 
young  women  were  sent  over  from  England  to  make  wives 
for  these  colonists,  the  whole  settlement  would  have  gone 
down  in  total  collapse.  A  whole  colony  of  bachelors ! 
What  on  earth  can  you  do  with  them  ?  It  is  bad  enough  to 
have  one  or  two  scattered  throughout  an  entire  community, 
but  when  it  comes  to  a  whole  colony  of  them,  \vhat  then? 
Of  course  you  tell  me  that  some  of  the  greatest  and  best 
men  whom  this  country  has  ever  known  came  in  the  line  of 
that  colony  in  the  Old  Dominion.  There  were  Patrick 
Henry,  the  fiery  orator  of  the  Revolution,  George  Washing- 
ton, the  Father  of  his  country,  and  Thomas  Jefferson,  the 
penman  of  the  immortal  Declaration,  and  James  Madison, 
who  wrote  our  nation's  constitution; — all  this  is  true,  but 
still  I  say  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  had  it  not  been 
for  this  voyage  of  England's  one  hundred  fair  women  to 
these  shores,  the  history  of  this  part  of  our  nation,  at  least, 
would  have  taken  quite  another  turn.  In  the  passenger  list 
of  the  Mayflower  there  were  nineteen  wives  and  seven 
daughters,  the  foremothers  of  so  many  of  these  homes  which 
have  blessed  the  Xew  England  vales  and  made  this  little 
corner  of  God's  footstool  great.  It  is  a  beautiful  tradition 
which  has  been  handed  down  to  us  that  the  first  one  to  set 


—161- 
foot  upon  stern  old  Plymouth  Rock  was  the  first  maiden, 
Mary  Chillion,  and  the  last  one  of  the  Plymouth  band  to 
survive  was  Mary  Allerton,  living  to  see  twelve  out  of  the 
thirteen  colonies  established  which  became  the  nucleus  of 
this  great  nation. 

Would  you  like  to  know  a  little  more  about  some  of  these 
sturdy  women  of  those  early  days  who  were  true  home- 
makers  and  who,  by  strength  of  mind  and  muscle,  were 
noble  helpmeets  to  their  stalwart  sires?  There  was  Miss 
Elizabeth  Zane,  who  ran  the  gauntlet  of  the  Indians'  fire 
in  order  to  secure  a  keg  of  powder,  and  by  nerve  and  hero- 
ism saved  the  whole  settlement  from  massacre.  There  was 
Mrs.  Hendree,  of  Royalton,  Vt.,  who  rescued  fifteen  cap- 
tured children  from  the  Indians  at  the  risk  of  her  own  life. 
There  was  Hannah  Duston,  who  dispatched  with  a  toma- 
hawk a  whole  camp  of  Indians  and  secured  her  own  safety. 
This  heroic  deed,  as  recorded  by  Bancroft,  is  perhaps  the 
most  thrilling  of  all  tales  found  in  Indian  lore;  and  the 
citizens  of  Concord,  N.  H.,  have  erected  a  monument  on 
the  spot  where  the  deed  was  performed,  that  the  memory 
of  such  a  brave  woman  might  not  be  left  to  die.  There  was 
Mrs.  Sarah  Knight,  daughter  of  Captain  Kemble,  who  was 
equal  to  the  all-round  woman  of  to-day  in  doing  well  the 
duties  of  business  and  the  home.  This  Captain  Kemble, 
by  the  way,  obtained  quite  a  reputation  in  his  day.  He  had 
returned  from  a  three  years'  voyage  and  was  seen  kissing 
his  wife  on  the  doorstep  of  his  home  on  a  Sabbath  after- 
noon, and  for  this  "flagrant  misdemeanor"  he  was  con- 
demned to  sit  for  two  hours  on  Boston  Common  with  his  feet 
fast  in  the  public  stocks.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  Sarah  Knight, 
was  proficient  in  all  housewifely  cares.  She  was  a  good 
soap-maker,  sugar-maker,  butter-maker,  clothes-maker, 
bread-maker,  cloth-maker,  and  broom-maker.  We  know 
from  her  diary  (for  she  kept  one  with  minute  care)  that 
she  owned  and  superintended  a  flour  and  gristmill,  ran  a 


—  1 62— 

tavern,  taught  school,  rode  on  horseback  from  Boston  to 
New  York  and  back  again  on  business  errands,  and  specu- 
lated a  little  in  Indian  lands.  Do  you  think  now  that  the 
sphere  of  our  foremothers  was  contracted  and  narrow,  and 
that  they  knew  scarcely  anything  of  life  beyond  the  bounds 
of  their  dahlia  beds?  The  Puritan  maiden  was  in  many 
respects  a  striking  and  fascinating  figure.  Who  would  not 
have  looked  twice  at  such  quaint  personalities  as  Deborah 
and  Mehitable  Nash,  robed  in  bear  skins?  The  pretty 
Puritan  maiden,  too,  Priscilla  Mullens,  sitting  at  her  spinning 
wheel,  had  enough  of  romance  in  her  to  suggest  to  Longfel- 
low his  most  beautiful  poem  on  Courtship.  These  Puritan 
foremothers  of  ours  were  real  home-makers.  They  kept  a 
home,  a  home,  I  say, — not  a  flat  where  you  stay  for  a  while 
in  a  sleeping  car,  nor  a  four-story  affair,  where  at  different 
portions  of  the  day  you  are  on  different  rounds  of  the  ladder. 
Our  good  Puritan  foremothers  were  the  loved  heads  of  the 
home.  They  were  not  creatures  of  fads,  the  star  patients 
of  the  physician.  They  did  not  spend  so  much  time  at  the 
club  that  their  children  once  in  a  while  wished  to  get 
acquainted  with  them.  They  did  not  think  that  the  chief 
aim  in  living  was  to  pose  before  a  mirror  or  illustrate  the 
latest  mode.  They  were  mothers, — perhaps  we  ought  to 
place  some  emphasis  there;  they  were  mothers  of  many 
vigorous  sons  and  blooming  daughters.  They  had  large 
families.  I  do  not  think  that  they  spent  a  great  deal  of 
time  in  discussing  the  problem  of  race  suicide.  I  have  said 
that  our  Puritan  sires  have  been  feted  and  dined  over-much ; 
it  is  high  time  that  the  era  of  the  foremothers  was  due. 
Here  is  a  point  where  we  should  strike  the  loud  cymbals  in 
the  praise  of  the  home-makers  of  that  day ;  they  got  along 
with  their  crank}'  old  sires.  They  brought  two  bears  into 
the  home,  and  without  these  bears  a  good  deal  of  growling 
wrill  go  on.  These  mothers  learned  how  to  compromise, 
how  to  yield  and  yet  pretty  well  to  have  their  own  way. 


-i63- 

They  governed  their  children,  not  by  breaking  their  will, 
but  by  making  their  will  act  in  loyal  harmony  with  the 
other  faculties.  Yes,  one  who  could  do  this  and  at  the  same 
time  live  peacefully  with  good  old  Roger  Williams,  who 
was  conscientiously  cranky  and  consistently  out-of-sorts, 
deserves  a  bright  crown  in  Heaven;  and  these  mothers  are 
wearing  their  crowns  now  over  there. 

How  much  does  this  great  nation  owe  to  these  Puritan 
homes?  Can  you  measure  their  influence  in  our  history  by 
weights  and  scales?  Can  you  set  over  their  value  as  pro- 
portionate to  so  much  timber-land  or  navigable  rivers  or 
great  watersheds  or  railroad  systems?  Here  are  some  of 
the  families  which  have  shaped  our  nation's  destiny  and 
guided  its  career;  will  you  put  down  in  mathematical 
calculation  how  much  they  are  worth:  the  Otis  family,  the 
Hancock  family,  the  Adams  family,  the  Jefferson  family, 
the  Washington  family,  the  Budinot  family.  John  Quincy 
Adams  tells  us  in  his  diary  that  when  he  first  realized  that 
he  bore  the  name  of  Quincy,  a  name  that  his  mother  had 
given  to  him,  he  felt  a  great  call  to  splendid  achievement. 
My  dear  friends,  that  is  the  meaning  of  this  anniversary 
occasion;  you  greatly  mistake  if  you  listen  only  to  its  din 
and  noise.  Back  of  all  our  parading,  back  of  all  our  pyro- 
technics, back  of  all  our  addresses,  is  this  clarion  call :  Live 
up  to  the  best  that  was  in  your  sires.  This  is  no  place  or 
time  for  criticising  or  finding  fault.  Our  New  England 
forebears  had  their  defects  and  shortcomings;  but  this  is 
not  the  occasion  to  thrust  in  our  bodkin  and  pick  out  the 
false  thread.  You  remember  what  an  influence  the  elder 
Pliny  had  in  the  best  d?.ys  of  Rome ;  his  letters  send  forth 
an  aroma  of  sweetness  that  is  really  refreshing  in  the  midst 
of  so  much  that  is  uncanny  and  foul.  He  writes  (and  I 
think  it  is  beautiful)  of  his  wife:  "She  loved  that  which 
was  immortal  in  me."  Let  us  take  that  which  was  bravest 
and  truest  and  noblest  in  the  lives  of  those  who  have  gone 


-i64- 

before  and  hold  it  up  to-day  for  emulation  and  desire. 
Miriam,,  in  the  history  of  Israel,  did  her  people  a  service  in 
striking  the  cymbals  in  praise  of  high  deeds.  Strike  the 
cymbals  to-day  in  praise  of  the  home.  Strike  the  cym- 
bals to-day  in  honor  of  patient  endurance  of  hardship  and 
pain.  Throw  aside  criticism,  seek  earnestly  for  something 
worthy -to  copy,  and  honor  your  God. 


TRINITY   CHURCH. 


COMMEMORATION  IN  TRINITY  CHURCH 


Sunday,  August  sixth,  being  the  Feast  of  the  Trans- 
figuration, the  Collect,  Epistle  and  Gospel  for  that  day  were 
used  in  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion.  The 
Morning  Prayer  was  modified  to  meet  the  occasion,  Psalms 
80  and  90  being  used  instead  of  those  appointed  for  the 
day ;  the  lessons,  Deuteronomy  8,  and  2  Corinthians  3. 
The  Processional  hymn  was  number  468,  "From  all 
that  dwell  below  the  skies,"  to  Old  Hundredth :  the  introit, 
hymn  196,  "Our  fathers'  God,  to  Thee,"  to  America;  the 
hymn  before  sermon,  number  418,  "O  God,  our  help  in 
ages  past,"  to  St.  Anne;  hymn  231,  "My  God,  and  is  Thy 
table  spread,"  to  Federal  Street,  being  sung  at  the  Com- 
munion. The  Rev.  J.  Francis  George  read  Morning 
Prayer  and  Rev.  Frederick  Foote  Johnson  celebrated  the 
Holy  Communion.  The  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rec- 
tor, Rev.  James  H.  George,  from  Psalm  80,  verses  8  and 
9,  the  subject,  "The  Transplanted  Vine." 


THE  TRANSPLANTED  VINE 

A  SERMON  PREACHED  IN  TRINITY  CHURCH  AT  THE  NEWTOWN 
BICENTENNIAL,  SUNDAY,  AUGUST  6TH,  IQO5 

REV.  JAMES  HARDIN  GEORGE 


PSALM  80;  8  and  9:  Thou  hast  brought  a  vine  out  of  Egypt; 
thou  hast  cast  out  the  heathen  and  planted  it.  Thou  preparedst 
room  before  it,  and  didst  cause  it  to  take  deep  root,  and  it  filled  the 
land. 

It  is  most  fitting  at  a  time  when  we  are  celebrating  the 
two-hundredth  anniversary  of  a  new  order  of  things  in  this 
town,  when  the  land,  which  before  that  day  had  been 
the  hunting  ground  of  the  Indian,  was  to  become  the 
property  of  a  civilized  race  and  to  be  cultivated ;  when  we 
are  thinking  of  the  changes  which  time  has  made  in  the 
external  conditions  of  the  country,  that  we  should  study 
the  religious  history  of  the  community;  and  especially,  as 
we  are  gathered  in  our  parish  church,  that  we  should  review 
the  history  of  our  own  communion  in  this  town  in  the  past 
two  hundred  years. 

In  doing  so  I  trust  that  I  shall  not  be  led  into  saying 
aught  that  would  wound  the  feelings  of  any  of  our  neigh- 
bors and  friends.  Thank  God,  the  bitterness  and  rancour 
which  in  portions  of  that  period  characterized  religious 
controversy  have  passed  away,  as  a  broader  conception  of 
religious  truth  has  brought  men  more  closely  together. 

It  is  a  law  of  the  spiritual  nature  that  it  must  make  its 
own  growth  from  within.  External  circumstances  which 
may  cramp  it  will  inevitably  result  in  serious  consequences. 


-i67- 

The  inborn  freedom  of  our  nature  rebels  against  restriction. 
Moreover,  our  sense  of  the  value  of  liberty  makes  us  ready 
to  take  the  part  of  the  oppressed,  though  we  may  have  little 
sympathy  for  the  cause  in  which  they  suffer.  If  the  soul 
may  lie  open  and  respond  to  God's  truth,  and  take  the 
form  which  God  gives  it  and  have  its  normal  growth,  the 
divinely  appointed  result  will  follow. 

In  the  history  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  we  find  a  certain 
character  and  religious  ideal.  It  may  under  certain 
circumstances  and  restrictions  be  stunted,  made  one-sided, 
dwarfed,  or  abnormally  developed.  It  seeks  a  certain 
roundness  and  proportion,  which  if  denied  it,  it  will  rebel. 
There  is  a  type  to  which  it  would  revert  under  favorable 
circumstances,  towards  which  it  is  constantly  pressing.  If 
we  bear  this  fact  in  mind,  we  shall  have  a  key  to  the  history 
of  religion  in  this  community. 

The  words  of  the  Psalmist,  of  which  the  motto  and  court 
of  arms  of  our  State  are  an  application,  represent  the 
transplanted  vine,  and  assure  us  of  God's  protection  from 
external  danger.  Not  less  do  they  assure  us  of  His  law 
within  our  nature  which  will  seek  its  normal  growth  and 
generous  fruits.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  circum- 
stances which  have  made  it  one-sided,  or  dwarfed  some 
essential  character,  it  will  revert  to  its  type. 

Two  hundred  years  ago  there  was  not  a  place  of  worship 
or  a  minister  of  our  Church  in  the  Colony  of  Connecticut. 
The  reason  of  this  is  not  far  to  seek.  Religious  intolerance, 
which  was  a  characteristic  of  the  time,  had  driven  the  early 
settlers  of  New  England  from  the  mother  country  to  seek 
the  practice  of  their  own  faith  in  this  land.  They  came 
here  for  freedom  to  worship  God ;  but  it  was  for  freedom  to 
worship  God  in  their  own  way,  not  for  a  general  freedom 
for  all  to  worship  God  in  the  way  in  which  it  should  seem 
best  to  each.  Consequently  they  did  not  permit  others  the 
freedom  which  had  been  denied  them. 


-i68— 

But  there  was  in  the  make-up  of  the  race  a  sense  of  fair 
play,  which  doubtless  brought  into  the  company  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Puritan  movement  many  who  did  not  sympa- 
thize with  all  their  religious  views,  though  feeling  that  they 
were  entitled  to  hold  them.  There  was  also  in  them  that 
type  of  spiritual  character  which  belongs  to  the  race,  and 
which  has  constantly  pressed  forward  to  be  realized,  that 
roundness  and  balance  which  has  made  it  so  strong  in  every 
department  of  life  and  given  it  the  leading  place  in  the 
world.  There  is  in  the  race  that  blending  of  loyalty  to  order 
and  authority  with  that  insisting  upon  personal  freedom 
which  has  shown  itself  in  its  political  history.  It  is  the  race 
which  has  wrought  freedom  under  law,  and  produced  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  most  perfect  model 
of  all  political  institutions,  because  it  combines  a  strong 
central  with  a  free  local  government. 

In  the  realm  of  religion  it  has  settled  upon  the  model  of 
the  Primitive  Church,  which  recognizes  a  divine  authority 
in  its  order,  creed,  and  worship,  with  the  sense  of  the 
personal  responsibility  of  the  individual  soul  and  its  freedom 
of  approach  to  God.  It  is  not  satisfied  with  either  of  these 
lacking ;  so  that  we  see  in  the  religious  history  of  the 
race  these  two  tendencies,  the  one  to  value  the  divine 
authority  and  ordinances  of  the  Church,  whereby  it  has 
sometimes  been  led  to  suppress  personal  freedom  and 
ignore  the  access  of  the  soul  to  God;  the  other  to 
go  to  the  extreme  of  denying  any  outside  authority  what- 
soever, whereby  not  only  the  order  of  the  Church  and  the 
Christian  creed,  but  also  the  Scriptures,  have  been  regarded 
as  useless,  and  the  claim  made  that  the  soul  is  its  own  guide 
in  searching  for  truth,  and  its  feelings  the  only  test  of 
righteousness.  Circumstances  have  caused  the  one  or  the 
other  of  these  two  forces  at  different  times  to  prevail ;  but 
where  one  has  been  suppressed  it  has  generally  resulted  in 
strong  reaction  in  its  favor.  The  blending  of  these  two 


-i6o- 

tendencies  in  the  normal  specimens  of  the  race,  and  their 
due  recognition,  has  satisfied  its  spiritual  wants.  It  was 
the  existence  of  these  two  cravings  in  the  spiritual  nature 
of  the  settlers  of  New  England  which  caused  the  rise  and 
growth  of  the  Church  in  a  region  where  she  had  been  hated. 

For  the  Church  in  this  Colony  was  no  exotic.  It  was  not 
the  result  of  a  propaganda  from  outside;  but  it  was  the 
natural  returning  of  some  of  the  noblest  and  best  minds 
in  the  Colony  to  that  normal  spiritual  condition  which  could 
alone  satisfy  them.  When  Cutler,  the  President  of  Yale 
College,  and  his  associates  declared  for  the  Church  and  went 
to  England  for  ordination,  they  reached  that  point  because 
they  had  outgrown  the  one-sided  teaching  of  Calvinism  and 
felt  the  lack  of  a  sense  of  divine  authority  in  its  ministry. 

Our  religious  bent,  as  did  our  civilization,  came  from 
Stratford,  and  the  seeds  of  both  were  in  the  early  settlers. 

It  was  in  this  very  year  1705,  and  in  the  very  month, 
July,  Old  Style,  that  Rev.  George  Muirson,  the  missionary 
of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  sent  to 
Rye,  in  the  neighboring  province,  landed  in  New  York. 
About  this  time  a  request  was  sent  from  certain  members 
of  the  Church  of  England  in  Stratford  to  the  Rector  of 
Trinity  Church,  New  York,  asking  him  to  visit  them.  He, 
by  reason  of  the  distance  from  his  home,  referred  the  matter 
to  Mr.  Muirson. 

Mr.  Muirson  had  in  Colonel  Caleb  Heathcote,  one  of  his 
parishioners,  a  devoted  adherent  of  the  Church  and  anxious 
to  do  what  he  could  for  it  in  Connecticut.  With  this  faith- 
ful and  influential  layman  he  visited  Stratford  in  the  summer 
of  the  following  year  and  on  September  second  held  the 
first  service  of  the  Church  in  this  Colony. 

In  1694  the  Rev,  Messrs.  Keith  and  Talbot  had  visited 
the  Colony  and  spent  a  Sunday  at  New  London.  They  were 
hospitably  received  by  Mr.  Saltonstall,  the  minister  of  the 


—  170— 

town,  and  at  his  request  preached  for  him  that  day.  But 
it  is  not  likely  that  the  Prayer  Book  service  was  used. 

On  this  occasion  Mr.  Muirson  preached  to  a  very  numer- 
ous congregation  morning  and  evening,  and  baptized  twenty- 
four  persons.  He  found  a  number  well  inclined  to  the 
Church,  and  with  its  presentation,  others  were  drawn  to  it, 
so  that  through  his  occasional  visits  a  parish  was  formed  in 
April  1707.  A  man  of  prudence,  modesty,  and  ability,  he 
did  a  good  work,  and  in  spite  of  opposition,  extending 
even  to  legal  notice  from  the  town  authorities  to  refrain 
from  officiating,  there  was  created  such  an  interest  in  the 
Church  that  the  Congregational  minister  himself  was 
favorably  disposed  towards  it,  and  thought  of  applying  for 
holy  orders.  But  his  good-will  cost  him  opposition  and 
final  loss  of  his  place. 

To  meet  the  growing  tendency  towards  the  Church,  the 
Independents  called  the  Rev.  Timothy  Cutler  from  Boston, 
a  man  of  culture  and  high  standing,  and  one  of  the  best 
preachers  in  the  two  colonies ;  and  the  death  of  Mr.  Muirson 
in  1708  left  the  Church  people  to  occasional  ministrations. 
But  the  leaven  was  at  work,  the  need  in  the  spiritual  nature 
of  the  community  and  the  race  was  too  deep-seated  to  die 
out.  Cutler  himself  became  uneasy  under  the  old  doctrine 
and  order,  and  though  he  served  the  community  well  for 
ten  years,  and  was  then  made  Rector,  or  President,  of  the 
College  in  New  Haven,  he  ultimately  came  into  the  Church. 

It  was  not  until  1722  that  the  Stratford  parish  had  its 
first  resident  minister  in  the  person  of  Rev.  George  Pigott, 
sent  by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel, 
and  under  his  faithful  ministry  the  Church  in  Stratford 
flourished. 

It  was  during  these  years,  from  the  first  visit  of  Mr. 
Muirson,  that  our  own  town  began  to  be  settled,  and  the  men 
who  came  here  represented  the  town  from  which  they  came. 
On  the  one  hand  was  the  established  order  and  the  old 


Calvinism.  On  the  other  the  reaction  from  the  old  doctrine 
and  a  leaning  to  the  Church's  ways.  It  was  not  the  fault 
of  Mr.  Toucey,  the  first  minister  of  this  town,  that  there  was 
dissatisfaction  and  division.  It  was  because  of  this  division 
brought  from  the  mother  town  and  the  general  feeling  of 
unrest  in  the  Colony.  Nor  was  there  trouble  because  there 
were  professors  of  the  Church  of  England  who  made 
division.  A  large  and  growing  number  of  the  people  were 
inclined  to  receive  Mr.  Pigott's  services.  He  officiated 
here  six  times  during  his  first  year,  and  reported  to  the 
Society  that  all  the  adherents  of  the  Church  in  Newtown 
had  conformed  from  conviction,  none  being  by  inheritance 
of  the  Church  of  England.  Of  these  there  were  twelve 
heads  of  families  who  petitioned  the  Society  for  a  minister 
of  their  own.  The  defection  to  the  Church  in  1722  of  the 
President  of  Yale  College  and  his  companions  gave  it  a 
standing  and  influence  before  this  impossible  to  be  obtained. 
About  this  time  Mr.  Pigott  was  transferred  to  Rhode 
Island,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  Johnson,  one  of  Cutler's 
companions,  was  sent  after  his  ordination  in  England  to 
Stratford.  He  served  a  long  and  faithful  ministry,  officiat- 
ing in  Newtown  and  other  places,  and  was  finally  chosen 
to  be  the  first  President  of  King's,  now  Columbia,  College, 
in  New  York. 

The  history  of  the  Church  in  Newtown  is  now  for  fifty 
years  bound  up  with  the  life  of  one  man,  John  Beach,  him- 
self an  example  of  this  tendency  and  characteristic  of  our 
race  which  forms  the  subject  of  my  sermon.  A  native 
of  Stratford,  of  old  Puritan  stock,  imbibing  its  love  of 
liberty  with  his  mother's  milk,  and  held  by  all  the  sacred 
traditions  of  that  movement,  he  grew  up  in  the  atmosphere 
of  the  town  where  the  new  movement  was  going  on. 
Cutler  was  his  pastor  and  friend,  and  persuaded  his 
parents  to  give  him  a  college  education.  It  was  under 
him  and  Johnson,  who  was  a  tutor  of  the  college,  that 


—  172— 

he  studied.  Their  influence  on  his  life  both  before  and 
after  their  conformity  to  the  Church  was  deep,  but  he  held 
the  old  way,  and  graduating  in  1721,  he  studied  for  the 
ministry  of  the  standing  order. 

It  was  this  very  popular  and  ingenuous  young  man  who 
was  called  to  fill  the  place  of  Mr.  Toucey  in  Newtown,  and 
to  reconcile  all  differences.  The  choice  proved  a  happy  one  ; 
for  he  not  only  healed  all  differences  among  the  adherents 
of  the  old  way ;  but  he  reconciled  to  his  ministry  those  who 
could  not  sit  easy  under  the  old  doctrine.  The  movement 
towards  the  Church  of  England  was  stopped,  and  although 
there  were  five  families  who  continued  to  receive  the 
ministrations  of  Mr.  Johnson,  the  larger  number  of  those 
attached  to  the  Church  of  England  and  those  leaning  that 
way  were  satisfied  with  him,  for  he  preached  the  simple 
Gospel. 

But  the  growth  in  him  had  begun,  and  those  familiar  with 
the  Prayer  Book  recognized  that  much  of  his  prayers  were 
in  the  words  and  all  in  the  spirit  of  the  liturgy.  At  last 
the  natural  bent  of  his  mind  and  diligent  study  brought 
him  to  the  conviction  that  his  place  was  in  the  ministry  of 
the  Church,  and  in  1732  he  conformed  and  on  Easter  day 
was  received  into  the  communion  of  the  Church  by  Dr. 
Johnson  in  Christ  Church,  Stratford. 

Going  soon  to  England  he  was  ordained,  and  returning 
in  September  took  up  his  work  in  the  town  where  he  had 
already  spent  eight  years  of  a  fruitful  ministry.  His  first 
service  was  held  under  a  large  sycamore  tree  at  the  foot 
of  the  village  street  where  the  Bethel  road  crosses  the 
turnpike,  no  public  place  being  open  to  him. 

That  a  man  of  his  sensitive  nature  should  have  felt  deeply 
grieved  at  the  coldness  of  former  friends  is  not  strange; 
nor  is  it  strange  that  they  should  thus  have  treated  him. 
Old  prejudices  were  still  alive  and  were  not  to  be  changed 
by  one  man  in  a  short  time,  however  honest  and  sincere  he 


—  173— 

may  have  been  known  to  be.  That  he  should  have  met 
opposition  and  misrepresentation  and  abuse  from  the  more 
violent  partisans  was  what  might  have  been  expected. 

But  he  took  up  his  work  in  the  old  spirit.  He  knew  the 
people  and  loved  them.  He  knew  their  prejudices  and  had 
shared  them.  There  was  no  wish  in  him  but  to  do  them 
good.  He  was  led  into  controversy  by  attacks  upon  the 
Church,  but  this  was  mostly  from  those  without  the  town. 
He  lived  in  peace  with  his  neighbors  and  ere  long  his  work 
began  to  tell.  Beginning  with  the  five  Church  families 
to  whom  he  ministered  in  his  own  house,  his  congregation 
grew.  Each  communion,  which  he  celebrated  twice  every 
month,  saw  new  members  added  to  his  flock.  Sometimes 
several  families  came  at  one  time  to  his  ministry.  One  of 
his  parishioners  losing  her  Prayer  Book  on  her  way  from 
service,  it  was  picked  up  by  a  neighbor,  who  pronounced 
it  a  mass  book.  Others  eager  to  see  what  it  was  like  found 
it  to  contain  a  large  part  of  Holy  Scripture  and  such  prayers 
as  Mr.  Beach  had  used  in  his  former  ministry,  and  to 
breathe  a  wholesome  religious  spirit.  As  a  result  eight 
families  were  added,  bringing  the  number  of  the  flock  to 
seventy  souls. 

The  need  of  a  church  building  now  became  imperative, 
and  a  small  wooden  structure  twenty-eight  by  twenty- four 
feet  was  erected.  The  frame  was  raised  on  Saturday,  the  roof- 
boards  were  nailed  on,  and  on  Sunday  the  service  was  held 
under  its  scant  shelter,  the  worshipers  sitting  upon  the  tim- 
bers and  kneeling  upon  the  ground.  It  stood  on  the  com- 
mon a  few  rods  from  the  lower  end  of  the  Street.  This 
building  served  the  congregation  until  1746. 

The  growing  influence  of  the  Church  in  the  town  is  shown 
in  various  acts  of  the  town,  among  which  is  one  passed  in 
1743.  Mr.  Beach  had,  when  he  conformed  to  the  Church 
of  England,  surrendered  all  the  grant  of  land  which  was 
given  him  at  his  settlement,  excepting  his  home  lot,  which 


—174— 

was  freely  granted  him  in  recognition  of  his  past  services. 
The  town  now  gave  him  from  the  land  set  apart  for  the 
support  of  the  ministry  the  proportion  which  would  come 
from  the  adherents  of  the  Church,  an  act  as  much  to  the 
credit  of  the  town  as  his  first  surrender  of  land  was  to  him. 

The  great  revival  which  swept  over  the  country  under 
Whitfield  threatened  to  injure  the  Church,  but  the  excesses 
to  which  it  led  drove  a  yet  larger  number  of  the  more  sober 
people  to  its  worship.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  follow- 
ing upon  this  great  awakening  the  size  of  the  congregation 
necessitated  the  erection  of  a  new  and  larger  church,  "a 
strong  neat  building,  forty-six  by  thirty-five  feet."  This 
was  situated  in  the  Street  opposite  the  present  ''Brick 
Building,"  so-called.  The  Church  continued  to  prosper, 
and  by  the  time  of  the  Revolution  its  adherents  numbered 
one  half  of  the  population  of  the  town. 

In  the  troubles  with  the  mother  country  the  sympathy 
of  the  Church  people  of  the  town  was  with  the  Colonies, 
and  their  minister,  with  his  clerical  brethren,  did  all  in  their 
power  to  influence  the  English  government  to  redress  the 
grievances  of  the  Colonies ;  but  Mr.  Beach  had  at  his 
ordination  taken  a  solemn  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Crown 
from  which  he  felt  that  he  could  not  absolve  himself,  and  a 
majority  of  his  people,  as  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town, 
were  of  the  same  mind.  But  there  was  no  factious  or 
seditious  opposition  to  the  colonial  government,  or  refusal 
to  give  it  support  of  men  or  money.  Mr.  Beach  went 
quietly  about  his  work  as  he  had  done  in  the  past,  preach- 
ing the  Gospel  and  ministering  to  the  spiritual  needs  of  the 
people,  and  within  his  cure  was  the  only  place  where  the 
prayer  for  the  King  was  heard  within  the  lines  of  the 
colonial  government.  Like  other  clergymen  he  might  have 
fled  to  the  loyalist  lines  or  gone  to  other  lands ;  but  his  duty 
lay  here.  The  threats  against  his  life  and  the  attempts  to 


—  175— 

silence  him  were  vain.  If  these  came  from  individuals  in 
the  community,  they  did  not  represent  it. 

Mr.  Beach  passed  to  his  rest  at  the  close  of  the  Revolu- 
tion and  in  the  fiftieth  year  of  his  rectorship.  More  than 
any  other  one  man  he  left  his  impress  upon  the  people  of  the 
town,  and  his  influence  is  abiding. 

In  spite  of  the  general  unpopularity  of  the  Church  in  the 
New  England  Colonies,  as  being  indemnified  with  the  English 
government,  it  seems  to  have  had  no  ill  effect  upon  this 
parish.  At  its  close  a  new  and  larger  church,  sixty-eight  by 
forty-eight  feet,  was  built  on  land  just  north  of  the  present 
edifice  and  was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Seabury  in  1794, 
and  served  its  people  down  to  the  present  generation.  But 
the  old  church  had  a  special  honor  before  giving  way  to 
the  new.  Within  its  walls,  under  the  rectorship  of  the  Rev. 
Philo  Perry,  who  succeeded  Mr.  Beach,  the  Convocation 
of  the  Bishop  and  clergy  of  Connecticut  met  on  the  last  day 
of  September,  1790.  The  subject  for  their  consideration 
was  the  changes  made  in  the  Prayer  Book  by  the  General 
Convention  the  year  before.  These  changes  were  such  as 
were  made  necessary  by  the  independence  of  the  Colonies, 
and  the  change  in  the  Communion  Service  conforming  it 
more  nearly  to  the  primitive  liturgies,  which  Bishop  Seabury 
pledged  the  Scottish  Bishops  who  consecrated  him  to 
endeavor  to  bring  about.  The  subject  had  the  fullest  con- 
sideration, and  on  the  next  day,  October  ist,  the  Prayer 
Book  was  ratified  and  became  the  rule  of  worship  for  the 
diocese. 

Of  the  subsequent  history  of  the  parish  it  needs  not  that 
I  speak  with  great  particularity.  It  has  been  my  purpose 
to  cite  certain  facts  of  the  history  of  the  Church  in  this 
town  to  illustrate  a  great  truth  of  our  human  nature. 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolution  the  parish  took  its  place 
as  one  of  the  leading  parishes  of  the  diocese,  and  at  one  time 
the  largest ;  and  the  Conventions  of  the  diocese  have  met 


_i76- 

here  from  time  to  time.  Its  rectors  have  been  men  promi- 
nent in  the  councils  of  the  Church,  and  as  a  rule  spending 
many  years  in  the  midst  of  a  contented  people. 

Early  in  the  last  century  the  parish  outgrew  the  limits 
of  one  clergyman's  strength  to  administer,  and  in  1830  St. 
James's  Church  was  built  in  Zoar  to  serve  that  part  of  the 
town.  And  when  it  was  given  up  the  parish  of  St.  John's, 
Sandy  Hook,  beginning  first  as  a  Sunday  School  work,  and 
then  a  mission,  was  made  a  separate  parish  in  1870. 

Under  the  rectorship  of  Dr.  Marble,  who  for  more  than 
twenty  years  went  in  and  out  among  this  people,  the  new  and 
beautiful  stone  church  in  which  we  worship  was  built,  a 
true  type  of  the  blessed  and  lasting  influences  of  his 
ministry. 

For  more  than  half  a  century  now,  in  the  changes  which 
have  taken  place  in  our  civilization  whereby  the  rural  dis- 
tricts are  deserted  for  the  cities,  the  parish  has  suffered 
with  the  town.  But  its  good  work  has  not  failed,  and  its 
influence  on  the  community  has  not  waned. 

And  the  reason  is  that  it  has  held  true  to  the  great  ideals 
of  the  race.  History  moves  on,  and  great  changes  come  in 
civilization,  in  men's  manner  of  life,  and  in  their  thought. 
But  their  spiritual  needs  remain  the  same  from  generation  to 
generation.  To  meet  these  needs  men  must  have  the  same 
old  standards  of  duty  to  a  living  God,  and  love  to  the  breth- 
ren. The  due  balance  of  loyalty  to  authority  and  freedom 
of  conscience  are  required  to-day  as  two  hundred  years  ago ; 
and  it  is  found  in  the  reverent  devotion  and  order  set  forth 
in  this  parish.  It  is  the  standard  to  which  men  must  come 
for  rest  and  peace,  and  for  vitalizing  and  progressive  power. 

We  have  used  the  same  service  this  morning  that  our 
fathers  used  two  hundred  years  ago.  It  is  the  same  that  our 
children  will  use  in  the  generations  to  come.  It  has  served 
under  monarchy  and  republic,  under  a  rude  and  pioneer 
civilization  and  under  all  the  changes  which  wealth  and 


—  177— 

•«* 

progress  have  made.  It  cannot  wear  out,  because  it  is 
true  to  the  nature  which  God  made  in  his  own  image. 

With  gratitude  to  Him  for  his  mercies  in  the  past,  and 
with  a  firm  faith  in  his  over-ruling  providence,  let  us  go  on 
to  make  this  church  a  blessing  to  the  community  in  which 
it  is  placed. 

With  a  hearty  good  will  to  all  Christian  men,  with  a 
just  pride  in  the  devotion  and  steadfastness  of  those  brave 
men  who  for  conscience  sake  crossed  the  ocean  and  planted 
a  religious  community  in  this  land,  let  us  hold  them  in 
undying  reverence.  It  is  from  such  a  stock  that  true 
religion  springs ;  and  from  this  vine  God  will  cause  to  come 
the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness  which  are,  by  Jesus 
Christ,  unto  the  glory  and  praise  of  God. 


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